Women surgeons earn less than male co-workers in fee-for-service system

Previous research has suggested that female physicians in a salary-based system, like in the U.S., earn less than their male co-workers, but new data indicates the same can be true in a fee-based system. Canadian surgeons get paid a fee based on the services they render, and that system is theoretically supposed to be free of bias. Looking at data from nearly 3,300 surgeons, researchers found that female surgeons earned roughly 24% less per hour than their male colleagues. The disparity existed even when accounting for medical specialties, with the largest hourly wage differences among cardiothoracic and orthopedic surgeons. Female surgeons were also more likely to perform common procedures with the lowest hourly earnings, such as in gynecology.