Research shows pay gap exists between female and male physicians

Research shows pay gap exists between female and male physicians,
and female hospitalists need to be aware and be prepared.
by Lisa Ryan
The Hospitalist
March 2012

A 2011 study published by Health Affairs showed that male physicians newly trained in New York state made on average $16,819 more than newly trained female physicians in 2008.

Roberta Gebhard, DO, thought that her 20 years of experience as a physician in the U.S., 10 of them as a hospitalist, would mean she would get paid more than a new graduate just out of residency would.

She was wrong.

Dr. Gebhard was working at a hospital run by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs when she learned that the less experienced doctor—a man—was making $10,000 more a year than she was.

“After that, the job was no longer interesting to me,” says Dr. Gebhard, who left the hospital over the pay discrepancy and now works as a hospitalist at WCA Hospital in Jamestown, N.Y. “Women think that things should be fair, so they assume that they are. I’m a good negotiator, and when that happened to me, I was like, ‘Wait a minute! I didn’t just take what they offered me.’ I pushed a few times and was basically told it was a government position, there was no wiggle room, and I couldn’t get more salary...