373 - Show Me the Money: A Movement Towards Transparency in Pediatric Emergency Medicine Compensation

Poster Number: 373
Publication Number: 373.122

Background: Pediatrics (Peds) and Emergency Medicine (EM), female and male-dominated fields respectively, both have documented gender and racial disparities in compensation and academic rank. Pediatric Emergency Medicine (PEM) exists at the departmental overlap of Peds and EM, and the extent to which these disparities persist within PEM is unclear, but important to explore.

Objective: We sought to collect, examine and compare workforce data related to PEM fellows first job after training.

Design/Methods: We distributed an electronic survey from May 2023 to June 2023 to all PEM fellowship program directors (PDs), requesting they forward to their graduating fellows. Peds, Medicine/Peds, and EM residency-trained PEM fellows were included. Survey completion was anonymous and voluntary, and included questions on demographics, employment characteristics and compensation.

Results: 39 PDs distributed the survey to 113 graduating PEM fellows, with 80 (71%) respondents. Table 1 presents job characteristics and Table 2 presents compensation data. 57 (71%) identified as women and 56 (70%) identified as White, 13 (14%) as Asian and 7 (9%) as Black. For ethnicity, 4 (5%) identified as Hispanic. 74 (93%) completed a pediatric residency. The reported median base salary was $255,000 (IQR 222,000, 288,811). There was no statistical difference for base salary, annual clinical hours, sign-on bonus or relocation stipend by gender or by underrepresented in medicine status. Compared to pediatric hiring departments, EM hiring departments had a statistically significantly higher mean base salary (EM $272,079 +/- 67,884 vs. Peds $239540 +/- 48,731, p=.036) and annual clinical hours (EM 1393 +/- 177 vs. Peds 1269 +/-259, p=.035). There was no significant difference in base salary by starting academic rank (Instructor $227,067 +/- 76,372 vs. Assistant Professor $254,567 +/- 59,764, p=.214). The Midwest had significantly lower annual clinical hours than other regions.

Conclusion(s): Transparent starting compensations and job packages for PEM fellowship graduates is the first step to improve transparency and correct disparities. Our study’s findings indicate relative gender and race parity in total compensation and clinical hours packages for PEM graduates’ first jobs out of training. Current PEM hiring practices may serve as a model for other specialties. However, our respondent demographics reflect the need for racial diversity recruitment efforts within PEM. A larger study is needed to analyze the effects of intersectionality in terms of gender and race and to investigate if parity persists as PEM physicians advance in their careers.