Talk Ten Tuesdays

Wage Disparity and the Gender Gap: Probable Causes for Burnout?

April 10, 2018 Chuck Buck | Erica Remer, MD | Juliet Ugarte Hopkins, MD | Gloryanne Bryant | H. Steven Moffic, MD | LeAnn Thieman Episode 320
Talk Ten Tuesdays
Wage Disparity and the Gender Gap: Probable Causes for Burnout?
Show Notes

The recent Doximity research study that revealed an average national wage gap between male and female physicians of $105,000 was greeted by some healthcare professionals as "old news," while to others it seemed one more thread in the national fabric of the discussion on women's rights in the era of #metoo. Yet this income disparity could also contribute to physician burnout—a diagnosis that is higher among female physicians than their counterparts.

In 2017, the national gender gap for physicians increased, as female doctors earned 27.7 percent less than their male counterparts—an even bigger gap than the national average, according to the Doximity survey.

This news comes at a time when the topic of women's rights both in and out of the workplace has never been more volatile, and women's voices are being heard as never before. There has even been movement toward reviving the Equal Rights Amendment, with the Nevada Legislature last year becoming the first to ratify the ERA after the expiration of the original deadline—45 years after Congress submitted the amendment to the states. New ERA legislation is currently pending in several other states.

Discussing the gender gap and wage disparities in medicine during this episode is Dr. Juliet Ugarte Hopkins, a physician advisor for case management, utilization, and clinical documentation at ProHealth Care, Inc. in Wisconsin.

Other segments featured in this episode include:

  • News Desk: Gloryanne Bryant, past president of the California Health Information Association and an ICD10monitor contributor, reports on coding Parkinson's Disease, which is in the nation's spotlight as April is National Parkinson's Awareness Month.

  • Women's Health Report: LeAnn Thieman, former nurse and nationally acclaimed author who co-authored the New York Times best-seller Chicken Soup for the Nurse's Soul, returns to Talk Ten Tuesdays to report on burnout among nurses. Thieman is the founder and president of SelfCare for Healthcare.

  • Mental Health Report: Nationally renowned psychiatrist and Talk Ten Tuesdays contributor H. Steven Moffic, MD, reports on burnout among female physicians.

  • TalkBack: Co-host Erica Remer, MD, herself a former emergency medicine physician turned healthcare consultant, relates her own experience in a gender wage discrepancy dispute with a former employer.

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