Male Docs Make WAY More than Females: What's Going On?
(istockphoto)
(CBS) Do doctors make too much money? One thing's for certain: Male doctors make a lot more than their female counterparts.
Surprised? A new study shows the pay gap is only widening.
In 2008, newly minted male doctors started out earning an average of $209,300, the study showed. And the women? In the same year, they took home $174,000. That means a pay gap of $35,300, up from a gap of $21,778 in 1999.
After adjusting for differences in medical specialty, hours worked, and type of practice, the gap was $3,600 in 1999 and a whopping $16,819 in 2008.
Yow.
What's going on? One possibility, says study author Anthony Lo Sasso, a senior research scientist at the University of Illinois at Chicago, is that women doctors are more likely to seek work flexibility and family-friendly benefits - for example, not being on call after certain hours.
"It may be that lifestyle factors may be increasingly important to newer physicians," Lo Sasso said in a written statement. "It could be that women in particular want to have more of a lifestyle balance in their medical careers."
Another possibility is that women earn less because they tend to see fewer patients than do their male counterparts.
For the most part, doctors are paid under a "fee for service" system, meaning that the more patients they see, the more they earn, according to Dr. Kevin Pho, who writes a popular medical blog.
"By spending more time with patients, female physicians are financially penalized by seeing less patients during the day," he told CBS News in an email. "It's another reason why we need to change the way doctors are paid, and reward them for spending time with patients, instead of penalizing them."
The study, based on a survey of 4,918 male doctors and 3,315 female doctors in New York State, was published in the Feb. issue of "Health Affairs."
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End of story.
Definitely going to hit a nerve on this one.
Doctors should be getting paid the same. There should be a certain price for everything. One doctor should not be able to charge more than another doctor. There should be a set price for things. Like $50 for a physical and it's the same with all doctors.
Women are no more or less incompetent in medical school or out in practice. There are good doctors and bad doctors, and competence is certainly not sex-determined. That's not a major reason for differences in male and female physicians' salaries.
As a woman in medicine for 30 years, working in a male-dominated specialty, I feel that there are many ways to practice, and some choices will definitely lead to a lowered income. Saying that, however, money should not be the ultimate goal. Working less than full time, choosing not to pursue a residency, or choosing a specialty that is lower-paying, with fewer time commitments, will all contribute to lower earnings. If anything, I believe that some women physicians have knowingly or unknowingly chosen a less stressful life, resulting in lower pay, just to have time to raise a family, pursue a second career, or just plain not go crazy, commit a felony, or get hooked on a controlled substance (like some of their stressed-out male cohorts). That's worth a pay cut, and men would be wise to follow suit! Also, a number of female physicians are married to well-paid male physicians or other highly paid professionals and have the freedom to work as much or as little as they like, not pressured by a need to work, and can opt for the luxury of fewer hours, patients, and procedures.
I do find that most men do tend to be more forceful in their demands for a salary, feeling that they deserve it, especially if they are the sole provider in their family, have a lot of loans to pay off, already have families, and have spouses that aspire to the life of a stereotypical "doctor's wife." Perhaps women don't feel as pressured in this regard.
At any rate, be assured that your doctor, male or female, is earning a mere fraction of what they bill and also sharing a great deal of their salary with the rest of society, and, believe it or not,your doctor has sacrificed a great deal of his/her life studying, losing sleep, ignoring personal health issues, missing important family events, and neglecting relationships, all for making you feel better.
Many countries, including the U.S., have laws on the books preventing disparities between men's and women's salaries. However, the reality of idea that the U.S. is the only country with disparity is entirely laughable.
Yeah? Well keep laughing. Your country is the only one that seems to allow people to get away with ignoring those laws. And many others too.
You really think the U.S. is the only country that has salary discrimination against women? I'm laughing even harder now.
Is that what I said? I said that your country is the only one that allows people to get away with it. People ignore the laws and there are no consequences.
In addition, this study suffers majorly from reporting bias, since these are self report of physician salaries. I'm willing to bet that men are more likely to positively embellish their salaries, while women are more likely to negatively embellish them. I know MANY doctors, men and women, so I'd put money on that.
Also, since there is a very real, and yet very covert, affirmative action policy in ALL medical schools that makes sure that the male/female ratio is always about 50/50, despite the fact that far more men apply, it most often allows unqualified females in just to make the ratio even. Many female physicians are incompetent, or end up that way because of inferiority complexes. That said, I'm not bashing females in medicine, just pointing out facts. I'm a nearly graduated med student and one of my best friends is a female in my class. I respect her far more than most other med students or doctors. I just evaluate things on an individual basis, which is what is ALWAYS done in hiring physicians, and is NEVER done in these studies.
Excuse me? You are saying that women physicians do not work the same hours as the men? I'm in Canada and the women work the same hours as the men. One day of the week they spend at a clinic. Doctors here are not allowed to see any more than 42 patients a day. That is so they don't end up suffering burn out.
"Many female physicians are incompetent, or end up that way because of inferiority complexes."
Are you kidding me? That is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard. I have had a few men doctors, and now have a woman doctor, and I can tell you that the woman doctor has been more competent than the men. I found that the men didn't really listen. Didn't take things as serious as the woman. In fact the men did some really STUPID things. For instance, I had pink eye in one eye, and a doctor took a swab of that eye and then used the SAME swab for the other eye. So what he did was contaminate my other eye! DUH! Even a moron would know better than that! That is when I finally changed doctors. When I told the "woman" doctor that, she looked at me and shook her head.
And "inferiority complexes"???? You're an idiot.
My brother came back to live here and he was wanting to find a doctor. I found a list of them and it also stated if there was ever a problem with them. All the ones that had had problems were men.
But, then again, I know, I know...ALL MEN are just dumb, bloated, ignorant fools and women are better at everything than we are. They can run faster, think faster, jump higher, care for children better, govern better...and they hardly EVER screw up in relationships too. Men should just quit doing ANYTHING and sit on our big, dumb, lazy arses and let the women handle it all...they got it covered...right?
You know, next time I see a woman arguing in public with her spouse, or getting hit, Im just going to walk on by. After all, she is just as capable as any man....equal too. She has it covered. Combat? Men should just give up and walk away. Women got it covered. Hard labor jobs? Quit now, so women can make all the money...remember, they can do it without your help.
ALL men are just like Family Guy, Everybody Loves Raymond, King of Queens...you name it. Im surprised women even LOVE their husbands or boyfriends given how insignificant, stupid, lazy, incapable and immasculine they are. Furthermore, they must dislike their fathers, brothers, uncles, nephews and male cousins too. They are inferior men who dont matter because women can do EVERYTHING they can do, and BETTER according to the media and society.
I suppose that I should, as a single father of 3 young boys with 2 degrees and a 15 year federal career...just shoot myself because Im so blatantly incapable of performing any task which would result in even a small amount of success. Even if I do succeed, I dont deserve it because Im an overpaid MAN who gets only the best, most advantageous treatment and opportunities for doing LESS than my female counterparts.
I mean, how did skyscrapers, streets, cars, engines, buildings, iron design, nearly EVERY MEDICAL discovery or even our own U.S. Constitution come about when all of us are so incapable as MEN to do anything. It's a mystery isn't it? Even I'm confused...guess because Im a man and cant think. Sorry, forgot.
Yes, that was a rant. I wont apologize for it either.
Are you serious? Doctors in America get paid MORE than they are worth. That's the problem. They have only been able to do what the insurance company tells them. So, in other words, they aren't doing what they should be doing, but are getting paid for it anyways. Too many are in it for the money.