Pay gaps between male and female physicians persisted across every specialty in Medscape's "Physician Compensation Report 2022."
In the report, male physicians in primary care earned $285,000, 25 percent more than their female counterparts, and male specialists earned $402,000, 31 percent more than female specialists.
Among specialists, the gender pay gap narrowed from 36 percent in 2018 and 33 percent in 2019, which Medscape said may reflect efforts by professional specialty organizations to address pay inequities.
"A great many of the specialty organizations have efforts underway not just to increase the number of women in specialties but also to address gender pay gaps and bias in evaluations during residency and fellowship," Ron Holder, COO of the Medical Group Management Association, said in Medscape's 2022 report. "Also, as more women have been able to break down barriers into specialties where they have not been as present before, aspiring female medical students, residents and fellows now have opportunities for more female mentors in the field of interest. The benefit of that in recruiting women to the specialty can't be overstated."
For its latest report, Medscape collected responses from more than 13,000 physicians in more than 29 specialties from Oct. 5, 2021, through Jan. 19, 2022.
The report also includes the percentage of female physicians in specific specialties.
The four specialties with the most female physicians are:
- Pediatrics: 58 percent
- OB-GYN: 57 percent
- Diabetes and endocrinology: 52 percent
- Dermatology: 48 percent
The four specialties with the fewest female physicians are:
- Urology: 8 percent
- Orthopedics: 11 percent
- Plastic surgery: 16 percent
- Cardiology: 16 percent