Among primary care physicians, the pay gap of approximately 25 percent is consistent with years past. Full-time male primary care physicians earn $264,000 on average, whereas their female counterparts bring in $212,000.
The pay gap narrowed slightly for specialists compared to last year, from 33 percent to 31 percent. Full-time male specialists earn $375,000 on average, whereas their female counterparts bring in $286,000.
For its 2020 report, Medscape collected responses from more than 17,000 physicians in more than 30 specialties. Data was collected from Oct. 4, 2019, through Feb. 10, before the COVID-19 crisis began and healthcare organizations suspended elective surgeries. In a supplementary article to its survey, Medscape notes that experts expect benchmarks for physicians to be lowered and bonuses to be constricted in light of lower patient volume attributed to COVID-19.
The report also breaks out the percentage of women physicians by specialty.
The five specialties with the most female physicians are:
- OB-GYN: 58 percent
- Pediatrics: 58 percent
- Rheumatology: 54 percent
- Dermatology: 49 percent
- Diabetes and endocrinology: 45 percent
The five specialties with the fewest female physicians are:
- Urology: 10 percent
- Orthopedics: 11 percent
- Plastic surgery: 16 percent
- Cardiology: 16 percent
- Pulmonary medicine: 17 percent
Specialties that have seen the most significant gains to female representation since 2015 include OB-GYN (50 percent in 2015), pediatrics (50 percent), rheumatology (29 percent) and dermatology (32 percent).
