California's Female Doctors Are Grossly Underpaid Compared To Male Doctors

LOS ANGELES CA — It's common knowledge that a woman in the United States likely earns less for her labor than a man doing the same task, from factory workers to physicians. But $83,000 less? That amount is sure to shock most people, but it's what female doctors in California are dealing with. The gender pay disparity persists despite the fact that medicare patients of female doctors have consistently better outcomes than patients with male doctors.

According to a study released in April, female physicians in California earn on average $83,000 less annually than their male counterparts. Nationally, the disparity averages $91,284. Put in percentages, female doctors in California earn 32 percent less than male doctors in the city. The gender wage gap persists in every specialty examined from vascular surgery to Neonatal/Perinatology.

Related: Female Doctors More Likely to Keep their Medicare Patients Alive than Male Counterparts

Doximity, a social media network for medical professionals, looked at 36,000 physician salaries in 50 major metropolitan regions and came up with the figures, which were compiled from full-time salaries only.
It’s well known that women tend to earn less than their male counterparts, but it’s the study’s findings painted a stark picture of gender inequality in the medical profession.

"The things that surprised us were two things: First, the sheer magnitude of the gender gap. And second, that we weren't able to find a single metro area or specialty where women made more than men," the study's lead author, Chris Whaley, an adjunct assistant professor at the University of California-Berkeley School of Public Health, wrote.

Physicians in Charlotte, N.C. s earned on average the top salary in the nation, $359,455, and also had the largest gender pay disparity, $125,000. Broken down by gender, the average pay for a male physician in California is $340,000 per year, while a female doctor earns $257,000 per year on average.

A Look At California

• Sacramento has the nation's smallest gender wage gap at 19 percent, a difference of $63,283, per year.
• Riverside and San Francisco have the nation's 11th and 12th smallest gaps at 23 percent.
• San Diego has the 17th smallest wage gap at 24 percent
• Two California cities are in the nation's top 25 worst cities for gender wage gaps. Female doctors in San Jose earn 27 percent less than male counterparts - the 16th worst gap in the nation, and Los Angeles is close behind in the 25th spot with a wage gap of 26 percent.

"The tables they have are just shocking," Dr. Barbara Stoll, the first woman dean at the McGovern Medical School at UTHealth in Houston, told the Houston Chronicle in response to the Doximity study. "When you march down every subspecialty and there is a gap, we have a problem."

What does a young doctor think about the numbers?

"Here we are in 2017 in a profession where we are getting the same training, the same education. It's just so disappointing," Caroline Hussey told the Chronicle. Hussey, a 30-year-old med student in her second year at UTHealth, wants to specialize in oncology.

"I feel like this is something I should've been aware of," she said. "No one ever talks about this in medical school. We need to be talking about it, and not just women. Men need to be aware of this, too."

While it is common knowledge that men dominate higher paying subspecialties such as oncology or brain surgery, the Doximity study found a large gender pay gap even in pediatric emergency surgery — women tend to gravitate toward pediatrics — $264,000 to $215,000.

"It is exactly the same job whether you are a man or a woman. Why is there a $50,000 difference?" Stoll said.
You can read more about the Doximity study here.

By James Brock and Paige Austin

— Image: Shutterstock