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Leslie Kane, MA; Mary Lyn Koval | October 15, 2021 | Contributor Information
In a year marked by uncertainty for most physicians, at least one aspect of the profession remained unchanged: Women's compensation still lags notably behind that of men.
This year's Medscape compensation survey drew responses from more than 4100 female physicians, who told us about their incentive bonuses, income, hours worked, greatest professional challenges, what gives them career satisfaction, and more. The data for this year's report were collected October 6, 2020 through February 11, 2021. Results for all physicians can be seen in Medscape's Physician Compensation Report 2021.
(Note: Some chart data in this presentation do not sum to 100% due to rounding. Calculations and rankings are based on raw data to avoid errors due to rounding.)
Leslie Kane, MA; Mary Lyn Koval | October 15, 2021 | Contributor Information
Survey respondents reported their compensation for patient care. For employed physicians, that includes salary, bonus, and profit-sharing contributions. For self-employed physicians, it includes earnings after taxes and deductible business expenses, before income tax. Only full-time salaries are included in our results.
Overall, in roughly the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, female physician income held fairly steady. In Medscape's Female Physician Compensation Report 2020, female primary care physicians (PCPs) reported earning an average of $212,000. Female specialists reported earning an average of $286,000 in last year's report.
Leslie Kane, MA; Mary Lyn Koval | October 15, 2021 | Contributor Information
Women are prevalent in pediatrics and in obstetrics/gynecology; they also comprise half of endocrinologists. However, in the highest-paying specialties—plastic surgery, orthopedics, cardiology, and urology —women make up only one fifth (or less) of physicians.
Leslie Kane, MA; Mary Lyn Koval | October 15, 2021 | Contributor Information
As in more than a decade of Medscape Physician Compensation Reports, men continue to earn more than women. Among PCPs, men earn 27% more than women, similar to the prior year's finding. Still, primary care is the leading choice for female physicians.
Leslie Kane, MA; Mary Lyn Koval | October 15, 2021 | Contributor Information
Male specialists earn 33% more than females, similar to results in our 2020 report (31% more) and the same as in 2019. This is similar to the wage gap for physicians overall, where men earn 35% more than women. According to responses to Medscape's physician compensation survey, about a third of specialists are women.
Leslie Kane, MA; Mary Lyn Koval | October 15, 2021 | Contributor Information
Male physicians earn more than their female counterparts in every age range. The wage gap between men and women in the two middle age ranges has widened somewhat since our prior report.
Leslie Kane, MA; Mary Lyn Koval | October 15, 2021 | Contributor Information
Women working in office-based solo practices reported the highest average compensation again this year ($281,000), although their pay dipped from last year's report ($290,000). Those in hospitals and those in office-based, single-specialty group practices were next. Women working in outpatient clinics remain among the lowest paid.
Leslie Kane, MA; Mary Lyn Koval | October 15, 2021 | Contributor Information
More than half of physician respondents (59% of PCPs; 55% of specialists) have an incentive bonus — a payment that is usually based on productivity but can also be tied to patient satisfaction, clinical processes, or other goals. Slightly lower percentages of female physicians report having bonuses than do male physicians.
Leslie Kane, MA; Mary Lyn Koval | October 15, 2021 | Contributor Information
Overall, physicians earn about two thirds of their potential bonus. Among both PCPs and specialists, women earn a lower percentage of their potential incentive bonus than do men.
Leslie Kane, MA; Mary Lyn Koval | October 15, 2021 | Contributor Information
Physicians overall work an average of 51 hours per week, including an average of 16.3 hours per week spent on paperwork and administration. Women spend an average of around 10% less time seeing patients than do men.
Leslie Kane, MA; Mary Lyn Koval | October 15, 2021 | Contributor Information
More than half of both male and female physicians report satisfaction with their compensation—although the percentage of satisfied men is about 8% greater than the percentage of satisfied women, for the second year in a row. Given the disparity in pay, it may not be surprising that men are more likely than women to be satisfied with their income.
Leslie Kane, MA; Mary Lyn Koval | October 15, 2021 | Contributor Information
While nearly two thirds of male physicians report having a net worth of $1 million or more, only 44% of female physicians report net worth at that level. 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).
Leslie Kane, MA; Mary Lyn Koval | October 15, 2021 | Contributor Information
As in Medscape's previous reports, payments on mortgages, car loans, student loans, and credit cards are among the major expenses for both male and female physicians. Again this year, higher percentages of women than men report debts due to paying off their college or medical school loans (32% vs 20%) and for childcare (17% vs 10%).
Leslie Kane, MA; Mary Lyn Koval | October 15, 2021 | Contributor Information
Physicians in general have a financially conservative lifestyle. The vast majority of female and male physicians alike report living either within or below their means. Only 6% of female physicians say they live above their means, similar to the percentage we reported last year.
Leslie Kane, MA; Mary Lyn Koval | October 15, 2021 | Contributor Information
Like physicians overall, about two thirds of female physicians have, at the very least, a general idea of how much they should be spending and saving. The percentage of those without any type of budget is about the same this year as last year.
Leslie Kane, MA; Mary Lyn Koval | October 15, 2021 | Contributor Information
Male physicians were somewhat more likely than their female peers to have faced a reduction in work hours in 2020. Seventeen percent of female physicians said they did not receive their annual raise, similar to the percentage of male respondents. (Respondents could choose more than one answer.)
Leslie Kane, MA; Mary Lyn Koval | October 15, 2021 | Contributor Information
As anticipated early in the pandemic, COVID-19 resulted at least temporarily in lost practice revenue for many physicians due to factors such as decreased patient volume and reduced hours. However, about two thirds of both female and male physicians said they suffered no significant financial losses in 2020. (Respondents could choose more than one answer.)
Leslie Kane, MA; Mary Lyn Koval | October 15, 2021 | Contributor Information
Female physicians are somewhat less likely than their male peers to have joint finances with a spouse or partner. In households where they do, about half pool their income and pay expenses from a common pot, regardless of how much each contributes. A higher percentage (62%) of male physicians handle household finances this way.
Leslie Kane, MA; Mary Lyn Koval | October 15, 2021 | Contributor Information
One third of female physicians report using physician assistants (PAs) in their practices, while a somewhat higher proportion of male physicians report having help from PAs. About half of all physicians use nurse practitioners (NPs) in their practices.
Leslie Kane, MA; Mary Lyn Koval | October 15, 2021 | Contributor Information
Close numbers of female physicians cited either making the world a better place or relationships with patients as the most rewarding aspect of their jobs, with somewhat fewer pointing to being very good at what they do as their top reward. Male physicians most often cited the latter, but their responses were largely similar.
Leslie Kane, MA; Mary Lyn Koval | October 15, 2021 | Contributor Information
Again this year, female and male physicians feel largely similar about the challenges their jobs entail. Still, a somewhat lower percentage of women (20%) than men (25%) consider various rules and regulations challenging.
Leslie Kane, MA; Mary Lyn Koval | October 15, 2021 | Contributor Information
If they had it to do over again, the large majority of female physicians would choose a career in medicine again, as would physicians overall. This year, higher percentages of female dermatologists, nephrologists, ophthalmologists, and oncologists said they would make that choice again (up 19%, 15%, 12%, and 12%, respectively, since our prior report). However, the percentage of women in critical care who would choose medicine again fell sharply, from 88% last year to 74% this year. (Results are shown only for specialties where sample sizes are sufficient.)
Leslie Kane, MA; Mary Lyn Koval | October 15, 2021 | Contributor Information
Of the female physicians who would go into medicine again, the large majority would also choose the same specialty. Family physicians and internists were among the least likely to select their current specialty again. (Results are shown only for specialties where sample sizes are sufficient.)
Medscape Physician Compensation Report 2021: The Recovery Begins
Physician compensation was atypical in 2020 due to the COVID pandemic. Almost 18,000 physicians told us about their income, bonus, hours worked, and greatest work challenges.Medscape Features Slideshow, April 2021
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Leslie Kane, MA
Senior Director
Medscape Business of Medicine
Mary Lyn Koval
Editorial Consultant
Disclosure:
Mary Lyn Koval has disclosed no relevant financial relationships.
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