Physician salaries continue to rise, but the pay gap between men and women remains

Amy Baxter | April 21, 2022 | Health Exec | Compensation

Cardiologists employed by a hospital appear to be more likely to pursue cardiac catheterization or angioplasty than independent cardiologists. female physician male

Physician salaries are on the rise once again after taking a temporary hit during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

That’s according to the latest Physician Compensation Report 2022 from MedScape, which revealed which specialties are the highest paid and how compensation is trending across the industry. The survey queried roughly 13,000 U.S. physicians across 29 specialties about their compensation, their feeling about being physicians, how they supplement their income and how they pay for their own healthcare.

Overall, physicians are earning $339,000 on average, with the top-earning specialties essentially unchanged year-over-year, the survey found. Primary care physicians (PCPs) earn lower compensation (an average of $260,000 per year) compared to specialists in general ($368,000 per year on average). Salaries for all physicians, PCPs and specialists have generally trended up over the last several years, including 29% for all physicians, 33% for PCPs and 30% for specialists since 2015. By comparison, inflation since 2017 has reached nearly 15% in the United States.

For the first time in 11 years of the survey, all specialties have seen higher compensation. That milestone highlights the changes that have occurred over the last two years through the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Compensation for most physicians is trending back up as demand for physicians accelerates,” James Taylor, chief operating officer of AMN Healthcare’s leadership Solutions Division, said in the survey. “At the height of the pandemic in 2020, Merrit Hawkins saw a 30% decrease in client physician recruiting engagements year-over-year. But in the [fourth] quarter of 2012, physician recruitment engagements hit an all-time high. The market for physicians has done a complete 180 over just [seven] or [eight] months.”

Specialties with the highest bump in compensation––including salary, bonus and profit-sharing contributions––are Otolaryngology (+13%), gastroenterology (+12%), dermatology (+11%) and pediatrics/ophthamology/plastic surgery (+10%).

Here are the top 10 highest paid specialties by annual average compensation:

Plastic surgery ($576,000)
Orthopedics ($557,000)
Cardiology ($490,000)
Otolaryngology ($469,000)
Urology ($461,000)
Gastroenterology ($453,000)
Dermatology ($438,000)
Radiology ($437,000)
Ophthalmology ($417,000)
Oncology ($411,000)

While all physicians are enjoying higher compensation, the pay gap between men and women in the industry remains. Men earned 25% more than women on average in the survey, with men averaging $285,000 to women’s $228,000. In 2012, the pay gap was 23%. The same is true for specialists, with men earning an average of $402,000 compared to women’s average of $307,000––a 31% pay gap. While that figure is huge, it’s actually declined over the years, as the pay gap was a striking 37% in 2017.

“A great many of the specialty organizations have efforts underway not just to increase the number of women in specialties but also to address gender pay gaps and bias in evaluations during residency and fellowship,” Ron Holder, chief operating officer of the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA), said in the survey. “Also, as more women have been able to break down barriers into specialties where they have not been as present before, aspiring female medical students, residents and fellows now have opportunities for more female mentors in the field of interest. The benefit of that in recruiting women to the specialty can’t be overstated.”

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