OMA finds 13.5% 'unexplained' pay gap between men and women physicians

There is a 13.5% daily pay gap between male and female physicians, an analysis performed by the Ontario Medical Association has found. Indeed, there is an even larger annual pay gap (32.8%), reflective of the difference in how many days male and female physicians worked respectively, perhaps driven my women’s tendency to assume more family responsibilities. The study, published in JAMA Network Open, said a multi-pronged approach would be needed to close the gap and that no single issue remains the culprit. Read: Addressing the HPV gender gap: New Canadian survey shows fewer men understand the risks of HPV "The lack of pay equity between physicians of different genders is troubling for doctors and also for patients," said Dr. Adam Kassam, OMA president, in a press release. "If women are deterred or discouraged from entering or continuing in the profession due to a lack of pay equity, patients and the entire health-care system stands to lose the enormous impact they make and could make in the future." The study, the largest of its kind so far in Canada, looked at OHIP daily billings from 31,481 doctors for 2017-18. Adjusting for factors like geography and years of experience, there was what the association called an “unexplained” 13.5% gap in pay, favouring men. The unadjusted gap was larger, at 22.5%. Read: Gender pay gap: a way to fix it? Within the daily pay gap, some factors were clear contributors, such as specialty type, which accounted for about two thirds of the gap. Among specialties, 13 had gaps of more than 15%. The greatest gaps were shown in specialties where men are more prominent including neurosurgery, cardiology and vascular surgery. However, distinct gaps still appeared in women-dominated specialties like geriatrics and pediatrics. How physicians get paid also appeared to be a factor. The gap was the greatest among physicians using a fee-for-service model. The smallest gap was found among those using capitation or fixed payment per patient model. Read: Solutions to the MD gender pay gap "Our findings suggest that no single factor fully explains the gender pay gap and this implies that no single intervention is likely to fully address it," said Sharada Weir, one of the report’s authors and the OMA's director of Healthcare Evaluative Research. While the annual pay gap appears to reflect that women doctors work fewer days out of the year because of family responsibilities, including maternity leave, the paper suggested a greater need to support physician parents regardless of gender. As well, the paper suggested better gender pay equity could be achieved through “modernizing the province's fee schedule and ensuring pay equity between different specialties. Read: Closing the gender pay gap in medicine: an action plan

OMA finds 13.5% 'unexplained' pay gap between men and women physicians

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