Women in Medicine: Numbers, Pay, and Trends (2026)
Women have been the majority of US medical school entrants since 2017. The pipeline is now reshaping medicine, but specialty sorting, leadership gaps, and a persistent pay gap remain. This page tracks the current data.
By specialty
| Specialty | Women (%) |
|---|---|
| Obstetrics & Gynecology | 59% |
| Pediatrics | 65.1% |
| Family Medicine | 45.8% |
| Internal Medicine | 42.2% |
| Psychiatry | 45.3% |
| Dermatology | 51.2% |
| Emergency Medicine | 31% |
| Anesthesiology | 27.4% |
| Radiology | 27.7% |
| Orthopedic Surgery | 7.6% |
| Cardiology | 15.6% |
| Urology | 11.3% |
Pay gap detail
The raw physician pay gap (~25%) is driven mostly by specialty sorting — women cluster in lower-paid specialties. The adjusted gap (same specialty, same hours, same experience) is 8-15% depending on specialty, with the largest adjusted gaps in procedural specialties.
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Over a 40-year career, adjusted for specialty, hours, and experience, female physicians earn $2 million less than male physicians (Dossa et al. JAMA Int Med 2019).
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In Medicare claims data covering 24M services, female doctors were paid 8-17% less per procedure than male doctors performing identical procedures at the same hospitals.
Trend
Women crossed 50% of medical school entrants in 2017 and have held the majority every year since. The practicing physician pool will reach parity around 2035 at current entry rates, barring pipeline shifts.
| Year | Women entering (%) |
|---|---|
| 1975 | 13% |
| 1990 | 36% |
| 2005 | 48% |
| 2017 | 50% |
| 2024 | 56% |
Patient outcomes
A robust body of research now shows small but consistent patient-outcome advantages for female physicians — lower 30-day mortality, fewer readmissions, better long-term medication adherence — replicated across the US, Canada, Japan, and Sweden.
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In 1.58M Medicare hospitalizations, patients treated by female internists had lower 30-day mortality (11.07% vs 11.49%) and lower 30-day readmission rates than comparable patients treated by male internists.
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Meta-analysis of 11 studies found a 6-percentage-point higher odds of medication-regimen adherence for patients with female primary care doctors.
Chidi et al., Journal of General Internal Medicine (2018) · 2018
Sources
Frequently asked
What percentage of doctors are women?
38.3% of practicing US physicians per AAMC 2024 data. The medical school entering class is 56% female, meaning parity is expected in the practicing pool by ~2035.
Do female doctors get better patient outcomes?
A consistent body of research shows small but significant advantages — lower 30-day mortality, better medication adherence, fewer readmissions — for patients of female physicians. Effect sizes are modest but replicated across multiple countries.
Why do female physicians earn less?
Specialty sorting drives the largest share — women cluster in lower-paid specialties like pediatrics and family medicine. Within specialty, the adjusted gap is 8-15%, driven by RVU differences, referral patterns, and academic rank.
When will there be equal numbers of male and female doctors?
In the entering class: already. In the practicing pool: around 2035 at current entry rates. At leadership (department chairs, deans): much later on current trends — 22% of deans are women as of 2024.
Do patients prefer male doctors?
No. Meta-analyses of patient satisfaction ratings show slight preference for female physicians on average, especially in communication-sensitive domains. Older patients show a small preference for same-sex physicians.