Women in the Medical Field

I’m sure many people have heard of the joke that women should marry doctors because they get paid well. However, new research suggests that women are succeeding in the medical field in unprecedented numbers.

Women have also been proved to be competent doctors, with one Huffington Post article suggesting that women are better doctors than men. This suggestion is based on research showing that female doctors spend more time with their patients, are more likely to prescribe recommended medication, and to plan required examinations. Another interesting finding was that the differences between male and female doctors tended to increase as they the ages of the doctors increased. Patients themselves treat female doctors differently, for example they are more likely to ask them follow up questions.

In general, there are more female doctors now and there are more women going to medical school. Today, women face less obstacles when attending medical school. Not surprisingly, as the culture towards women in the work force changed and became more accepting, they started attending and graduating medical school. The number of men and women attending and graduating medical school is very close to equal.

Still, like with other fields, women get paid less than men. For many years, this was believed to be caused by women’s parental responsibilities. Now, there is evidence that the speciality of medicine is also a factor. Women tend to populate family medicine or pediatrics, which pays less than the specialities that men populate. Men are more likely to work in heart surgery or radiology. There has also been research showing that men are simply more aggressive when negotiating for a pay rise. Even when all factors are made equal, taking into account work hours, academic titles, medical specialties, age and other factors that influence salaries; they still found men’s average yearly salaries were at least $12,000 higher than women’s.

Related to this subject, I also came across a petition that I thought was worth sharing. Last Spring, a new reality series premiered on Bravo titled “Married to Medicine.” It is about the lives of six African American women in the Atlanta medical community. Two of those women are doctors themselves, while the other four are married to doctors. In the style of many Bravo tv shows, it’s overdramatic and filled with drama between the women.

The show was met with backlash even before it premiered. It was criticized as showing an image of African American women in the medical field as materialistic and unprofessional; completely untrue to the real lives of African American female doctors. The issue is made more problematic, because there are not many reality shows portraying African American female doctors, it is worrisome to the African American women interviewed in the article that this is the only  portrayal of them on a non-scripted tv show. There is a concern that they will not be taken seriously in the medical community and that there will be negative stereotypes associated with African American women in the medical community. As of 2010, there are only 18,533 practicing physicians that are African American and female.

The second season of Married to Medicine is set to premiere this April.

Sources:

1. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/18/women-better-doctors-than-men_n_4122667.html

2. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/12/women-doctors-paid-less-female-men_n_1591286.html

3. http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2013/04/what-does-married-to-medicine-say-about-black-female-doctors/274490/

4.http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/08/world/europe/08iht-ffdocs08.html?pagewanted=all

5.http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2012/07/is-medical-school-a-worthwhile-investment-for-women/260051/

4 thoughts on “Women in the Medical Field

  1. Tad Abramowich

    I definitely think that women are competent doctors and expect them to continue making strides in that field. It does seem that, if the problem with unequal pay in medicine is which field the doctors practice in, this situation could be easily remedied by having more women aim to be cardiologists, or whatever pays the most. Despite this, it seems that being a doctor is perceived to be a man’s job. The “I can’t operate on this boy. He’s my son!” riddle comes to mind. I think that these subconscious notions about gender roles will be more difficult to get rid of.

  2. Lee Bader

    My roommate and I binge watch Bravo like it’s our job. It’s our guilty pleasure and even though all the shows are completely ridiculous, we can’t help but become invested in their outcome. (Also we have a love affair with Andy Cohen). Anyway, the promotional trailers for the upcoming season of Married to Medicine have been showing for weeks and though neither of us watched the first season, we were immediately intrigued by the ad campaign. I distinctly remember one of these trailers highlighting a fight between two women, one claiming the other wasn’t even a real doctor because technically she was a dentist. Completely absurd, yet millions of people will still tune in to see the outcome of the fight, as if they need the argument’s outcome to inform them if a dentist really is a doctor or not.

  3. Nicole Palombo

    I think that women tend to be better doctors than men. Whenever I see a female doctor I feel more comfortable, because she seems more caring and sincere while taking care of me. This might have something to do with the fact that male doctors I have seen are the ones that always seem to mess up, but I think a women’s nature aids in their doctoring.
    The show you were talking about seems completely insane. Bravo over-dramatizes EVERYTHING, and I see no reason for them to stereotype women in the medical field, because this could hurt them when applying for jobs, or even just make patients skeptical of their doctors
    Good Job!

  4. Melanie Brusseler

    It is not just in the medical field that women earn less than men. In fact women on average in the U.S make only 70 cents for every dollar her male counterpart makes. Though recent legislation such as the Lilly Ledbetter act try to make it easier for women to sue their employers for pay discrimination based on their gender it can be difficult because they have to be aware of the discrimination. Proving that pay discrimination is based off of gender can be difficult as well, since pay discrimination in general is a legal practice meant to allow employers to compensate their best assets better. All in all while there are those fighting against gender based pay discrimination, there is much left to be done.

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