Important Issues

Physician pay increased last year, according to the 2024 Medscape Physician Compensation Report, but only by 3%, increasing from an average of $352,000 to $363,000.  High inflation and Medicare payment cuts neutralized the modest gain.  MSDC advocated with the American Medical Association against these cuts. The survey found that 61% of physicians felt that US physicians are underpaid.

A comparison between male and female physicians found an overall gap in pay. Male physicians practicing full-time earned 29% more than their female physician counterparts, according to the report. Digging deeper, the report found that among primary care physicians, the pay gap narrowed slightly, from 19% to 17%. However, male specialists outearned females by 31%, compared to 27% last year.

Racial and ethnic pay gaps remained as well.  Caucasian/ White doctors earned $369,000 on average, Asian American physicians earned $362,000, Latinx/Hispanic physicians earned $349,000 and African American/ Black physicians earned $332,000. This difference is similar to the previous year.

MSDC Gender Task Force to Evaluate DC-Specific Patterns in Upcoming Survey

Gender inequity in medicine is obvious on a national and regional scale, but DC-specific data is lacking. MSDC’s Gender Equity Task Force will conduct a large-scale gender equity survey, starting later this month.  When you receive the survey, please complete it, and share it with colleagues to ensure a robust response rate.

The Task Force is also developing programming, resources, leadership opportunities, and more to address gender inequity, its causes, and its impact on the District healthcare workforce. This includes a mentorship event taking place on June 18. Learn more at msdc.org/genderequity.