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Keith L. Martin | July 2, 2019 | Contributor Information
Over 5300 female physicians responded to this year's Medscape compensation survey, the results of which are seen in our Physician Compensation Report 2019. Physicians disclosed their compensation, hours worked, time spent with patients, debt, net worth, and satisfaction with their career and specialty. (Note: Label values in charts are rounded, but rankings and calculations are based on raw data to avoid rounding errors.)
Keith L. Martin | July 2, 2019 | Contributor Information
Average annual earnings for female physicians are up from Medscape's Female Physician Compensation Report 2018 for both primary care and specialties. In 2018, women working in primary care reported compensation of $203,000, while specialists reported $263,000.
Keith L. Martin | July 2, 2019 | Contributor Information
Women are prevalent in obstetrics & gynecology and pediatrics, and comprise nearly half of endocrinologists and psychiatrists. In cardiology, urology, and orthopedics, however, less than 20% of physicians are women.
Keith L. Martin | July 2, 2019 | Contributor Information
The wage gap is greater among specialists. Male specialists earn 33% more than women. This is higher than the wage gap for physicians overall, where men earn 25% more than women. According to responses to Medscape's physician compensation survey, about 86% of specialists are men.
Keith L. Martin | July 2, 2019 | Contributor Information
There is a larger difference in income between men and women who are in the two younger age groups of practicing physicians. As age progresses, the percentage of male physicians who outearn their female counterparts decreases.
Keith L. Martin | July 2, 2019 | Contributor Information
As with most other specialties, self-employed specialists earn more than those who are employed. Income for both groups has been rising in general. Self-employed physicians tend to be older as a group than employed physicians and so have had more time to build up their practices, which may contribute to their higher income.
Keith L. Martin | July 2, 2019 | Contributor Information
Choice of specialty was about equal for younger women and their older peers. There is a slight difference among younger female physicians working in family medicine and pediatrics versus those over the age of 35.
Keith L. Martin | July 2, 2019 | Contributor Information
Compensation disparities exist not only between the sexes but also among various racial and ethnic groups. In all such groups, women physicians earned less than their male counterparts.
Keith L. Martin | July 2, 2019 | Contributor Information
Women working in office-based solo practices reported the highest compensation this year, an increase from last year's report ($243,000). Hospitals—which ranked as the practice setting with the highest compensation for the past 2 years—were next, followed closely by office-based, single-specialty group practices. Women working in outpatient clinics are among the lowest paid.
Keith L. Martin | July 2, 2019 | Contributor Information
As in Medscape's previous reports, mortgages, car loan payments, credit card debt, and paying off one's own college loans are among the major expenses for both male and female physicians. Women report a higher debt due to childcare (21%) than do men (12%).
Keith L. Martin | July 2, 2019 | Contributor Information
No matter their age, female physicians are more likely to still be paying off school loans. Similar to their male counterparts, the percentages of female physicians still repaying such loans drops as age increases.
Keith L. Martin | July 2, 2019 | Contributor Information
While more than half of male physicians report having a net worth of over $1 million, that number is smaller for female physicians (29%). The large majority of women practicing medicine report net worth of $1 million or less. Net worth is defined as total assets (eg, money in bank accounts, investments, retirement accounts, equity in one's home, value of cars, value of jewelry) minus total liabilities (eg, mortgage, car loans, credit card debt, school loans, home equity loans).
Keith L. Martin | July 2, 2019 | Contributor Information
Only a small percentage of female physicians—and male physicians as well—say they live above their means. "It's uncertain whether people are always the best judge of whether they are living within their means or not," says Joel Greenwald, MD, CFP, of Greenwald Financial Management, St. Louis Park, Minnesota. "We use a rule of thumb that physicians should be saving 20% of their gross income for retirement. If they are saving that amount or more, they're within their means."
Keith L. Martin | July 2, 2019 | Contributor Information
About 90% of both male and female physicians report being satisfied or very satisfied with their work as a physician. That aligns with the number for physicians overall in this year's report. "Doctors take great pride in what they do, even under difficult circumstances, and I would imagine that we all feel we do the best we can in spite of the challenges," says Carol Bernstein, MD, psychiatrist at NYU Langone Medical Center.
Keith L. Martin | July 2, 2019 | Contributor Information
For the second consecutive year, more than half of both male and female physicians report satisfaction with their compensation. Given the disparity in pay, it may not be surprising that more men than women are satisfied with their income, although the difference is minimal.
Keith L. Martin | July 2, 2019 | Contributor Information
Although Medicare reimbursement is lower than that of many private insurers, the majority of female physicians are not planning to cut back on these patients. In 2016, over 56 million people were enrolled in the Medicare program—most because of their age, while the others were Medicare beneficiaries due to various disabilities.[1]
Keith L. Martin | July 2, 2019 | Contributor Information
Similar to findings of past Medscape research, female physicians continue to spend more time with patients on average. This year's report shows that half of women spend 17 minutes or more compared with about 42% of men. (The report finds that women spend fewer hours per week with patients but more minutes with each individual patient.)
Keith L. Martin | July 2, 2019 | Contributor Information
Bureaucratic tasks continue to plague both male and female physicians. This year, 78% of women said they spend 10 hours or more per week on paperwork compared with 72% of their male peers. Both numbers are an increase from last year's report.
Keith L. Martin | July 2, 2019 | Contributor Information
Discussions of cost occur similarly among male and female physicians. Eighty-six percent of women say they regularly or occasionally discuss the cost of treatment with patients, compared with 85% of men.
Keith L. Martin | July 2, 2019 | Contributor Information
When it comes to naming the challenges of being a physician, there were variations between how men and women answered. While more men tended to consider various rules and regulations challenging, more women found long hours and dealing with difficult patients a greater burden. Female physicians also saw working with EHRs and getting fair reimbursement as less of a challenge than their male peers did.
Keith L. Martin | July 2, 2019 | Contributor Information
Both male and female physicians found relationships with patients, making the world a better place, and being good at what they do to be the most rewarding parts of their jobs, with some variations in percentages. More men than women noted that making good money at a job they like is important to them.
Keith L. Martin | July 2, 2019 | Contributor Information
Among female physicians most likely to choose medicine again were critical care physicians, pathologists, and dermatologists. Among those least likely to choose medicine again were plastic surgeons, physical medicine & rehabilitation physicians, and allergists.
Keith L. Martin | July 2, 2019 | Contributor Information
Of the female physicians who would go into medicine again, a large majority of orthopedists, ophthalmologists, urologists, and radiologists would also choose the same specialty. The same could not be said for rheumatologists, public health & preventive medicine physicians, and internists, who were least likely to select their current specialty again.
More than 20,000 physicians told us how much they save, how big a mortgage they carry, and which financial mistakes they've made.Medscape Features Slideshows, May 2019
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Keith L. Martin
Editorial Director
Medscape Business of Medicine
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References
Auerbach DI, Staiger DO, Buerhaus PI. [Table: Historical and Projected Numbers of Physicians, Nurse Practitioners, and Physician Assistants] Growing ranks of advanced practice clinicians – implications for the physician workforce. NEJM Catalyst. August 2018. Source
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