UNIQUE CHALLENGES FOR WOMEN IN
MEDICINE
There are three major issues facing women in
medicine today, namely (1) professional
acceptance, (2) gender bias, and (3)
family.
Professional Acceptance
A significant conference entitled "Woman MD" was
held at Johns Hopkins University
School of Medicine. In attendance were 200
female doctors from across the country
who met to study the impact of the increase in
the number of women entering medicine.
Among the major issues raised were
that:
1. Women physicians were looked down upon for
showing feelings of tenderness
and sadness toward patients and their families,
thereby violating what is consid-
ered implicit medical standards of behavior. It
was pointed out, however, that
demonstrating sensitivity and compassion is not
incompatible with the need for
the doctor to also demonstrate
strength.
2. Women physicians often enter specialties
they did not originally want because
of various family obligations.
3. Women physicians, especially young ones,
were concerned that they would not
be able to have both a career and a family
unless they found a mate who would
help with the housework and child rearing--or
unless they were untiring
"superwomen."
In a summary of the symposium, the women
doctors were warned of two separate
"pitfalls": an intolerance of the emotional
responses of the other sex in times of stress
and possible discrimination if they tried to
change the medical system too much.
In general, the attitude of young women
physicians toward their professional futures
is optimistic. The forces responsible for
changes have been the trail-blazing efforts of
older women, together with changes in societal
values and laws. Having become firmly
convinced that medicine is a suitable career
choice, more and more women are
applying to medical schools and discriminatory
barriers are falling.
Gender Bias
In the early 1990s several medical journals
published the results of surveys among
female medical students and residents regarding
harassment. The results indicate that
between 50 and 75% experienced some form of
gender discrimination. The offensive
behavior took the form of denied professional
opportunities, malicious gossip, sexist
slurs, and even sexual advances. Surprisingly,
harassment varied with different fields,
being most prevalent in general surgery and
least in pediatrics. Students were reportedly
harassed by both faculty and residents. While
harassment during medical training is
quite common, women face this issue more
intensely because of their gender. The hier-
archical nature of the medical power structure,
with men in the upper echelons, is
thought to contribute to this
problem.
Gender bias impacts on women negatively, both
directly and indirectly. It may slow
their advancement, thereby keeping them in a
lower pay scale, and may also be psycho-
logically damaging enough to lower
self-confidence and sometimes work performance.
Efforts are being made to curtail harassment.
This includes periodic publication by
the medical school of its policy against
discrimination, presenting "Gender Neutral
Awards" to faculty who are especially sensitive
to gender issues, establishing workshops
where the relationship between genders are
discussed, sponsoring lectures, publishing
newsletters, and providing support
groups.
Family
A recent survey indicated that about 10% of
female medical graduates had one or more
dependents. This represents about 3,000 medical
school students. While the issue of
User Comments Add a comment…