Physician gender pay gap narrowing, but women still earn 19% less than men

Across the board, physician salaries rose by about 4% last year compared to 2021, according to Medscape. The rise in wages was partly attributed to a shortage of doctors and clinician burnout. According to Medscape's annual physician compensation study, which was released on Friday, the gender pay gap among physicians decreased last year for the first time in five years, despite the fact that women physicians continued to earn 19% less than their male colleagues. However, the racial pay discrepancy persisted, with Black physicians earning 13% less than White physicians. Physician pay increased by around 4% overall in 2018 compared to 2021. According to Medscape, the specialties with the highest salaries were orthopaedics, cardiology, and plastic surgery, while the ones with the lowest salaries were infectious diseases, family medicine, and paediatrics. According to the research, some of the salary increase can be linked to the nation's physician shortage, which was exacerbated by recurrent burnout that led doctors to abandon the field.