Responses to Patient Expectations Affect Physicians’ Income
Resource Details
Author(s): Fran Lowry
Date: November 26, 2025
Physicians’ perception of their patients’ expectations is a key factor influencing the amount of money they earn, according to a study of family physicians in Ontario. The finding may explain the persistently lower incomes for women, racialized, and immigrant physicians that have been noted for decades.
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“There’s a large literature about pay gaps in all kinds of industries, but not in medicine, because most physicians in Canada are paid through a standardized pay scale,” said senior author Meredith Vanstone, PhD, professor of family medicine at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario.
“You would think that this is an industry where these pay gaps wouldn’t exist. In other industries that have pay gaps, you may have negotiated a higher salary, or the gaps are due to subjective things that do not apply to medicine. In our study, we wanted to understand why these pay gaps exist in medicine, even though fees are standardized.”
…
“There’s a large literature about pay gaps in all kinds of industries, but not in medicine, because most physicians in Canada are paid through a standardized pay scale,” said senior author Meredith Vanstone, PhD, professor of family medicine at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario.
“You would think that this is an industry where these pay gaps wouldn’t exist. In other industries that have pay gaps, you may have negotiated a higher salary, or the gaps are due to subjective things that do not apply to medicine. In our study, we wanted to understand why these pay gaps exist in medicine, even though fees are standardized.”