female doctors married in the same proportion as
nonphysicians and that nearly 70% of
them had children. Moreover, female physicians
were much more likely to have had
working mothers than male doctors, indicating
the importance of role models in devel-
oping career decisions.
In terms of their professional lives, it was
found that women tended to practice in
larger cities and that a large number (over
one-third) worked either on a fixed salary or
in what could be characterized as "fixed-hours"
positions. Also, women had a slightly
higher tendency to specialize than men, with
the most popular fields being pediatrics,
psychiatry, anesthesiology, and pathology.
Other fields having significant appeal to
women were obstetrics-gynecology, internal
medicine, family practice, and public
health. About half were found to have been in
full-time practice all of their professional
lives and 87% in full- and part-time
practice.
Since the 1957 study was conducted, it is clear
that extensive changes have occurred.
Opinions about the importance of a career for a
woman have changed, as well as atti-
tudes concerning traditional family
patterns.
Group practice and part- or full-salaried
positions with hospitals, health depart-
ments, medical schools, or pharmaceutical
companies are but some of the ways in
which women can enjoy medical careers with
regular and reasonable hours. With the
increase in the number and size of Health
Maintenance Organizations (HMOs) and the
possibility of some form of national health
insurance plan, the number of these positions
most assuredly will increase.
A significant impact that will improve the
status of women in medicine is the fact
that many women physician leaders say that they
feel a responsibility to mentor young
women, because they have found that good
mentors helped them excel in their own
careers. Mentors can be a valuable asset during
training. They advise and encourage and
can provide inside information. Mentors can
serve to nominate their proteges for com-
mittee assignments, awards, grants, and
competitive positions, and facilitate research and
publication. It is not unique to utilize
mentoring as a device for professional advance-
ment, since it has long been a primary career
tool in medicine. Seeking guidance from a
mentor should be a route to follow, even when
there are obstacles to establishing such a
relationship.
Residency Choices
With the doors being opened to women, they have
moved out of the traditional fields of
postgraduate training into all major specialty
areas, to differing degrees. A recent survey
of the distribution of women in the major
residences shows that they can be grouped
into six groups, which we categorize as a
percentage of all residents:
1. above 50%: pediatrics, geriatric medicine,
dermatology, obstetrics/gynecology;
2. 40–50%: preventive medicine,
psychiatry;
3. 30–40% family practice, internal
medicine, pathology, pediatric subspecialties;
4. 20–30%: anesthesiology, emergency
medicine, internal medicine subspecialties,
diagnostic radiology;
5. 10–20%: surgery and its subspecialties;
and
6. under 10%: orthopedic surgery,
urology.
Faculty Appointments
With women assuming a larger role in medical
practice, it is natural that some should
elect to enter the field of medical education
or academic medicine. They represent about
20% of the basic and clinical science faculties
and make up more than 30% in such
departments as family practice,
obstetrician/gynecology, pediatrics, physical
medicine,
psychiatry, and public health. This matches the
representation in residency training
areas, as is indicated in the preceding
section.
User Comments Add a comment…