New male doctors earned 17% more than female doctors in US in 2008

Newly trained male doctors in the United States are paid on average $16 819 (£10 450; €12 350) more a year than their female colleagues, a new study has found. More discouraging is that the pay gap has widened over the past 10 years.

In 1999 female doctors received an average starting salary of $151 600 a year, 12.5% lower than the men’s salary of $173 400, shows the study published in Health Affairs (2011;30:2193-201, doi:10.1377/hlthaff.2010.0597). By 2008 the gap had widened to nearly 17%, with women being paid $174 000 and men $209 300.

The study used survey data collected between 1999 and 2008 from doctors exiting residency training programmes in New York state, which has the …