Women cardiologists do different work, make less money than men

Contact: Sarah AveryPhone: 919-660-1306Email: [e-mail]
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE on Sunday, Nov. 8, 2015 
DURHAM, N.C. -- Despite efforts to increase gender diversity in cardiology, major differences in job characteristics and pay persist between men and women who treat heart patients, according to a Duke Medicine-led study presented at the annual American Heart Association meeting.
The researchers found that the ranks of women cardiologists remain disproportionally small compared to those in medicine overall; women who choose the field are much less likely to specialize in higher-paying interventional procedures; and women earn less, even when adjusting for the different types of work they do.
"These results recapitulate the salary differences that have been found among male and female physicians, lawyers, business executives, and others,” said Pamela Douglas, M.D., Geller Professor of Research in Cardiovascular Diseases at the Duke Clinical Research Institute. Douglas is senior author of the research, which is also being published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. 
“Cardiology needs to be welcoming to women,” Douglas said. ”One way to do this is to acknowledge these differences and work toward correcting them.”
Douglas and colleagues analyzed data from 161 cardiology practices in U.S. communities surveyed in a 2013 report from MedAxiom, a firm that gathers and distributes data and business information specifically for cardiologists. T...

Source: DukeHealth.org: Duke Health Features - November 9, 2015 Category: Pediatrics Tags: Duke Medicine Source Type: news