Are You a Female Doctor? You're Probably Getting Paid Less Than Your Male Coworkers

Depressing but unsurprising.

Are You a Female Doctor?
(Image credit: Getty Images)

The fact that women make less than men (opens in new tab) is old news, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't talk about it all the effing time. How else is anything going to change, right? And as depressing as it is that Jennifer Lawrence made less (opens in new tab) than her male costars on American Hustle, you know what's even worse? The fact that female physicians at the nation's most highly acclaimed public medical schools are on average earning nearly $20k less per year than their male peers.

Of course, every specialty is blessed with its own wage gap, so here's the exact breakdown from JAMA Internal Medicine's recently-published analysis (opens in new tab):

1. Female neurosurgeons and cardiothoracic surgeons make roughly $44,000 less than their male coworkers.

2. Female orthopedic surgeons make around $41,000 less than their male coworkers.

3. Female oncologists and blood specialists make about $38,000 less than their male coworkers.

4. Female obstetrician-gynecologists make roughly $36,000 less than their male coworkers.

5. Female cardiologists make around $34,000 less than their male coworkers.

Just, augh. But there is one piece of (very small) good news: female radiologists appear to be making about $2k more than their male colleagues...so...yay?

"Fixing the pay gap between male and female physicians in academic medicine requires more than just studies showing that it exists; concerted efforts are needed to understand and eliminate the gap," Dr. Vineet M. Arora writes in an op-ed (opens in new tab) published with the study. "Fixing the gap will also require the courage and leadership of women academic physicians—the 'Dr Lilly Ledbetters' out there—to advocate to eliminate it. It is time that the 'woman card' be worth the same amount as the 'man card.'"

Co-signing this so hard.

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Mehera Bonner
Entertainment Editor

Mehera Bonner is a celebrity and entertainment news writer who enjoys Bravo and Antiques Roadshow with equal enthusiasm. She was previously entertainment editor at Marie Claire and has covered pop culture for over a decade.