No disrespect, sir, but do your qualifications match exactly to your peers? This is not meant as a personal question, but an economic one. Qualifications and employer discretion mean a lot in determining wages. I would assume that a highly trained SF medic with extensive trauma training and instructor experience combined with a degree from one of THE top nursing programs in the nation likely demands a higher pay differential than a similarly qualified BSN/RN. If not, then the non-medical related experience is likely of great additional value.
I mention this because my mother had a "similar" situation. My mother spent a lot of time working the books for local business when I was younger before she went back to school to get her BSN/RN. She worked many nursing jobs from NICU, Cath Lab, home health, hospital case manger, and 2 director positions to end up as the current director of cardiology at her current place. Despite her similar nursing experience and qualifications with her peers, her business qualifications added to her value.
All this to point out that, unless you directly ask for someone's resume or have an extensive relationship with someone, you may not know an individual's full qualifications. In a true labor market, wage is determined by not just experience but qualifications and some of those quals not directly related to your job but which facilitate more efficient/effective job performance add to value. Also, every job/internship that I ever had (that didn't require a can of dip and a spit cup) since I was 16 explicitly told me, "Do not talk about pay" so it's difficult to compare with all peers except the ones you may be particularly close with.
This was not to single your post out, sir, just to add to the gender pay gap discussion.
