AMA adopts new principles for advancing gender equity in medicine

CHICAGO — Recognizing that inequity in medicine is a complex, pervasive issue that requires a multilayered approach, the American Medical Association (AMA) today adopted a set of Principles for Advancing Gender Equity in Medicine. The new principles come as a number of studies continue to show significant gaps in pay and leadership disparities for women in medicine.

According to the 2018 Medscape Physician Compensation Report, female physicians in primary care earn nearly 18 percent less than their male counterparts. Among all physicians, the pay disparity is even more pronounced, with female physicians earning 36 percent less than male physicians. Similar disparities also exist in academic medicine, not just in terms of pay but in terms of leadership opportunities as well. Although women accounted for 41 percent of full-time medical school faculty in 2018, they made up only 25 percent of tenured faculty (of all ranks) and only 25 percent of full professors and 38 percent of associate professors.