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A new survey of physician earnings conducted by MedChi, the Maryland State Medical Society, revealed that female physicians were paid 50% less on average than male physicians, even when hours worked, employment status, and age were similar.

The average annual pre-tax income for Maryland-based male physicians in 2020 was $320,000, which is markedly higher than the $213,000 that female physicians were paid, according to the survey released this week.

This difference is almost identical to the one seen in the 2018 survey of 2016 physician income data, which showed an average annual compensation of $335,000 for male physicians compared with $224,000 for female physicians -- a 49.6% difference.

"The study controlled for all types of things, like part-time versus full-time, hours worked, and patients seen. So there's no other explanation, other than ... that we don't pay women the same amount of money that we pay men for the same work," Gene Ransom, chief executive officer of MedChi, told 番茄社区app.

He argued that the findings also reflect a bigger societal problem: "When someone as sophisticated as a physician isn't being treated fairly, does anybody else have a chance?"

MedChi tasked Merritt Hawkins, a national physician search and consulting firm, with conducting the survey, which assessed compensation, benefits, and practice metrics among Maryland physicians. The survey was sent to a list of 10,000 practicing physicians, yielding 506 responses that were further broken down by gender, age, ethnicity, and practice status.

The Gender Pay Gap

One notable difference between genders that could explain "a small portion" of the pay gap is that 41% of female respondents worked in primary care, which pays less than specialty practices, compared with 33% of male respondents, noted Ransom.

However, even within the primary care field, the survey showed marked differences between the average incomes of female versus male physicians, with men earning an average 41.2% more than women ($262,542 vs $172,823).

Additionally, male physicians in surgical, diagnostic, and other specialties earned an average 33.5% more than female specialists ($350,625 vs $250,115).

While pay disparities in the 2018 MedChi survey could be rationalized in part by female physicians working fewer hours than male physicians, the current survey showed that women worked 48.3 hours per week versus 48 hours for men.

Looking at employment status, female physicians are more likely to be employed -- which tends to pay less -- than work in private practice.

However, a 39.3% income difference was seen between employed female and male physicians, who were paid an average of $207,171 and $308,334, respectively.

The disparities among physicians in private practice were slightly narrower, at $247,727 and $338,189, respectively -- a 30.9% difference.

Pay Disparities by Race/Ethnicity

The survey also highlighted differences in physician incomes across certain ethnic groups.

On average, Asian/Asian-American physicians earned $325,000 annually in 2020, compared with $268,000 for white physicians and $225,000 for Black/African-American physicians.

While Ransom found these findings "disconcerting," he noted that the comparisons drawn around the gender pay gap were based on "significant data," whereas "the numbers [were] much smaller" among respondents of different ethnicities. This limited the group's ability to make a definitive statement about differences in income across these groups.

MedChi has established a committee that will specifically look into the issue of pay differences across physicians of different ethnicities and is considering reaching out to the American Medical Association to see if they have any data to back up these differences on a national level.

COVID-19 Pandemic Fallout

As for the pandemic's impact on physician income, 50.3% of survey respondents said they were not "professionally affected," while about 48% reported that the pandemic led to a decline in their 2020 income.

Furthermore, 4.9% reported closing their practices as a result of the pandemic, 4.3% reported joining another practice, 3.7% said they were furloughed, 3% reported finding a job in a different field, and about 1% each said they were laid off or retired.

"These findings suggest the pandemic did not have as severe of an inhibiting effect on the incomes of Maryland physicians as might have been expected," the survey noted.

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