Women in medical school and beyond (original) (raw)
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Gendered career considerations consolidate from the start of medical education
International Journal of Medical Education, 2014
To explore changes in specialty preferences and work-related topics during the theoretical phase of Dutch medical education and the role of gender. Methods: A cohort of medical students at Radboudumc, the Netherlands, was surveyed at start (N=612, 69.1% female) and after three years (N=519, 69.2% female), on specialty preferences, full-time or part-time work, motivational factors, and work-life issues. Chi square tests were performed to analyze gender-differences, and logistic regression to explore the influence of gender on considerations. Results: A total of 214 female and 78 male students completed both surveys. After three years, the male students remained highly interested in surgery, but the female students increasingly preferred gynecology. These initial preferences were predictive. Four out of five male students versus three out of five female students continued to show a full-time preference. Women increasingly preferred part-time work. After three years, the combination of work, care, and patient contact motivated female students more, whereas salary remained more important to male students. Female students indicated that their future careers would influence their family life; male students assumed having a family would only affect their partners' careers. Conclusions: Against an international background of the feminization of medicine, our study shows that career considerations are reinforced early in medical studies. Women prefer to work fewer hours and anticipate care tasks more often. Students' preferences reflect Dutch cultural norms about working men and women. Therefore, guidance in choice-making much earlier in medical education can create opportunities.
Advances in Medical Education and Practice, 2016
Introduction: Following policy implementations to redress previous racial and gender discrepancies, this study explored how gender impacted on the clinical experiences of final-year medical students during their undergraduate training. It also gathered their perceptions and expectations for the future. Methods: This cross-sectional, mixed-method study used a purposive sampling method to collect data from the participants (n=94). Each respondent was interviewed by two members of the research team. The quantitative data were entered into Excel and analyzed descriptively. The qualitative data were transcribed and thematically analyzed. Results: The majority of the respondents still perceived clinical practice as male dominated. All respondents agreed that females faced more obstacles in clinical practice than males. This included resistance from some patients, poor mentoring in some disciplines, and less support from hostile nurses. They feared for their personal safety and experienced gender-based stereotyping regarding their competency. Males thought that feminization of the profession may limit their residency choices, and they reported obstacles when conducting intimate examinations and consultations on female patients. Both males and females expressed desire for more normalized work hours to maintain personal relationships. Conclusion: Social redress policies have done much to increase equal access for females to medical schools. Cultural values and attitudes from mentors, peers, and patients still impact on the quality of their clinical experiences and therefore also their decisions regarding future clinical practice. More mentoring and education may help to address some of the perceived obstacles.
Women in Hospital Medicine: Facts, Figures and Personal Experiences
Although females represent a high proportion of medical graduates, women are under represented at consultant level in many hospital specialties. Qualitative and quantitative analyses were undertaken which established female representation at all levels of the medical workforce in Ireland in 2011 and documented the personal experiences of a sample of female specialists. The proportions of female trainees at initial and higher specialist training levels are 765(53%) and 656(55%) respectively but falls to 1,685(32%) at hospital specialist level (p< 0.0001). Significantly fewer women are found at specialist as compared to training levels in anaesthesia (p = 0.04), emergency medicine (p = 0.02), medicine (p < 0.0001), obstetrics/gynaecology (p = 0.0005), paediatrics (p = 0.006), pathology p = 0.03) and surgery (p < 0.0001). The lowest proportion of female doctors at specialist level exists in the combined surgical specialties 88(10%); the highest is in psychiatry 380(53%). Qualitative findings indicate that females who complete specialist training are wary of pursuing either flexible training or part time work options and experience discrimination at a number of levels. They appear to be resilient to this and tolerate it. Balancing motherhood and work commitments is the biggest challenge faced by female doctors with children and causes some to change career pathways. Introduction Medicine was once a male-dominated profession reflecting the male preponderance in medical schools. Subsequently an increase in female undergraduate entry has led to an even gender balance or slight female dominance in medical schools. 1 Decades later, the effects of this changing demographic at undergraduate level should be evident at senior clinical and academic levels. This has not happened, fuelling speculation about possible barriers and discrimination.
Female participation or “feminization” of medicine
Wiener Medizinische Wochenschrift
SummaryMore and more women chose medicine as their profession. Female students and graduates outnumber their male colleagues in Austria and the EU. However, the career paths of men and women differ after a certain point, and more and more female talent is lost along the career stages. Women hold only 30% of professor positions at state medical universities in Austria and only 11.9% of all chief physicians are female. Motherhood and related absence is the main career obstacle, but gender bias and missing role models are also factors hindering women to thrive. Improved working conditions would be beneficial for all members of the medical profession. Future generations (Generation Y, Generation Z) will likely expedite changes toward a better work-life balance and claim the right to find fulfillment besides work. Compatibility of family and work and the chance to individualize career paths could be important factors for employers to find and bind their employees. Additionally, (gender) ...
Improving female physician's careers in academic medicine: Chances and challenges
Best Practice & Research Clinical Anaesthesiology, 2018
University hospitals are involved in the care of critically ill patients, pre-and postgraduate education, and medical research with an increasing demand on physicians due to a higher burden of disease. The number of female physicians is increasing; however young female physicians are less willing to work at university hospitals under the given conditions. They often don't find appropriate working conditions in mostly hierarchically structured university hospitals. Institutional structures involuntarily erect barriers against the recruitment, retention, and career progression of women. Gendered working conditions remain firmly fixed, and this is even more challenging-overt discrimination has been replaced by less visible mostly implicit stereotypes and prejudices against women. Having children is an additional "career stopper" for female physicians: those with children are less likely to be promoted and have a lower income. Regulatory measures should act in several directions: cultural gender equality policies, family support policies and active work policies.
Future Choices of Female Medical Students
2018
Career choice in medical profession for the female medical students has always been a difficult task.The single most important determinant in this context is the flexibility and flexible working hours.
The Medical School Experience: Do Gender Differences Exist?
Academic Psychiatry, 1985
This paper has attempted to look at gender differences in medical students in regard to aspects of their training and expectations. Over 300 medical students from two classes were administered questionnaires. Contrary to expectations, the data revealed that there were very few significant differences between males and females for any of a host of varibles related to the effects and experiences in medical school.