Make Medicine More Equitable...Like Now!

by Meera Murali

We all know that the field of medicine lacks gender equality and diversity. Women make up just 28% of emergency physicians and are much less likely to hold leadership positions within hospitals or clinics. They endure much higher rates of harassment and discrimination, and as with most fields, they tend to make much less money. Why does it matter? It seems obvious, but let’s dig a little bit deeper.

Women actually make up the majority of medical students - 50.5%, to be exact. Yet, they make up just 36.3% of physicians in the U.S., and the numbers get worse as you take a look at more so-called “skilled” specializations, compared to those that involve caring for babies, pregnant women, and the elderly. A whopping 92% of physicians specializing in interventional cardiology, 90.7% of neurological surgeons, 94.2% of orthopedic surgeons, and 87.7% of those specializing in pulmonary disease are male. However, 53.8% of physicians specializing in geriatric medicine, 52.8% of those specializing in neonatal medicine, and 58.9% of gynecologists are female. What’s worse, while 64.3% of those in the field of pediatrics are women, only 37.1% of pediatric cardiologists, a specialization that supposedly involves more “skill,” are women. 

Women are also less likely to be selected for leadership positions within hospitals. Only 18% of hospital CEOs are female, and women tend to be promoted to senior ranking positions in academia less often than their equally-educated male counterparts. Unsurprisingly, female physicians are paid less than their equally qualified male peers. 

It’s evident that women are consistently undervalued and discriminated against in the field of medicine. But why does it really matter? Well, besides the typical effects of misogyny on women pursuing a typically male-dominated field, there are some potentially deadly implications to this inequity. Women make up only 85.1% of physicians specializing in cardiovascular disease, and the lack of a female voice in hospital leadership often leads to the misdiagnosis of deadly cardiovascular conditions such as heart attacks. Women and men do not experience the same symptoms; however, due to the lack of female perspective in formulating protocols for diagnosis, women are typically evaluated on the same protocols as men. Many women experiencing a heart attack report pain in their jaw or back, instead of the symptoms usually experienced by men, like crushing chest pain and shortness of breath. Without the proper protocol, physicians are unable to connect these lesser-known symptoms to heart attacks and therefore do not make the necessary diagnosis. This can have disastrous effects, as heart attacks should be treated as early as possible, and many women have lost their lives to this ignorance and discrimination.

The lack of female representation in the field of medicine has also resulted in the lack of support for female representation in drug trials, often leading to dangerously wrong dosages of medications. Researchers from the University of Chicago and UC Berkeley found a clear gender gap in dosages of medications used to treat conditions such as depression, cardiovascular disease, and seizures. Since women were not being included in trials for these drugs, it was assumed that they required the same dosage as men, even though their bodies did not react to medication in the same way. In over 90% of the cases studied, women experienced far worse side effects than men, ranging from nausea and headaches to seizures and cardiac disease. This exclusion stems from systemic discrimination against women when conducting clinical trials. Excluding women from drug trials not only harms women, but men too. When women are given the same amount of sleep medication as men (even though they require less), the impact is felt greater, which can lead to increased drowsiness the next morning. This could put them at risk of self injury and even traffic accidents.

With all of this information, it seems baffling that women are not being offered the same opportunities as men in medicine. It all boils down to the systematic maternal bias within our society. Like I mentioned before, women are typically in the majority (barely) when analyzing specializations that involve caregiving, whether it be for babies, pregnant women, or the elderly, while men make up staggering percentages of those in fields that supposedly require more “skill” or education. No matter how well women perform in their careers, they can never seem to overcome the “caregiver” stereotype embedded into society. This disadvantage affects mothers even worse. Women in medicine spend 8.5 more hours per week on parenting & household tasks than their male colleagues. Most U.S. medical schools offer only approximately 8 weeks of paid family leave, despite the American Academy of Pediatrics recommending a minimum of SIX MONTHS. Many mothers feel like they’re in a “double bind” attempting to balance motherhood and their careers. With all these additional burdens placed on women in medicine, in addition to the constant harassment and assault they face in the workplace, it’s no wonder almost 40% of female physicians leave the field of medicine entirely within 6 years of finishing their residencies.

So, how do we combat this? It starts by relieving some of the pressures that women in medicine face on an unfairly disproportionate level. The Harvard Business Review states that hospitals should offer mothers at least 12 weeks of paid maternity leave to recuperate from the physical effects of childbirth, with an additional 4-12 weeks for family care for any new parent. Paid catastrophic leave should also be available for those who need to care for sick/injured family members. Building on-site childcare services ensures that physician parents do not have to worry about their children and can focus fully on their careers. Training sessions on implicit bias allows hiring committees to recognize prejudice and avoid discriminating when hiring physicians. Harassment reporting systems must also be improved so employees, particularly women, feel safe in the workplace. 

Medicine is an incredibly important foundation of modern society, and its lack of female representation is actively hurting not just those within the field, but each and every single person that will require medical attention at any point in their lives. It might seem grim right now, but it doesn’t have to be. Making these necessary changes to the field of medicine will undoubtedly improve our lives for the better. So, what are we waiting for? Let’s make medicine more equitable for everyone. 

Sources:

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