Female Doctors Spend More Time With Patients, But Earn Less Money Than Men

When Minnesota family physician Jay-Sheree Allen begins a visit with one of her patients, she starts by turning on the faucet and washing her hands. She no longer shakes hands to minimize the risk of COVID-19 transmission, so she takes a little more time with her hand-washing routine to chat before addressing her patients' medical concerns.

Allen recently read a study published in The New England Journal of Medicine that found female primary care physicians spend more time with their patients than male doctors — an average of 2.4 minutes per visit, to be specific. But female physicians still make less money. Allen worries her hand-washing routine is contributing to the problem.

"That's my two minutes there," says Allen, who uses the time to establish a rapport with her patients. "That's the amount of time I take in the beginning, talking and having that social banter."