Study: On Average, Female Doctors Make $20,000 Less Than Men Annually
BOSTON (CBS) – There's a sizable pay gap between men and women working in the medical field, according to a new study.
Researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School looked at physicians employed at 24 public medical schools and found that female doctors earned an average of about $20,000 less per year compared to men.
The study took into account several factors like age, faculty rank, university affiliation, specialty and year of residency completion, and still concluded that the women made about 8 percent less ($227,783 a year for female doctors and $247,661 a year for men).
"The fact that we observed these income differences among physicians who are public employees raises issues that may have state regulatory implications," said Dr. Anupam Jena, of MGH.
The salaries of more than 10,000 doctors were analyzed for the study. It's believed to be the largest study of kind.
Researchers said the disparities were greatest in the field of orthopedic surgery, gynecology and cardiology. Pay was more equal in family and emergency medicine, while women in radiology made slightly more than men, according to the study.