By Kate Vavra, Summer 2023 Power in Place Collaborator
Image from: Forbes
For the first time in history, there are actually more women than men in United States medical schools. Despite this, significantly less women hold medical leadership positions than men. “Overall, women make up only 34 percent of physicians in the U.S., and gender parity is still not reflected in medical leadership. Women account for only 18 percent of hospital CEOs and 16 percent of all deans and department chairs in the U.S.—positions that typically direct the mission and control the resources at medical centers” [1]. There are various explanations on why female doctors are not advanced at the same rate as their male colleagues. On average, women receive less grant money and less institutional funding to publicize their work. They struggle more to find sponsors and mentors that may aid them in developing their research. There is also a lack of policies that protect the recommended six months of paid maternity leave, which often leaves new mothers struggling to excel at work, making them more likely to leave the medical field. Additionally, there is an unconscious bias against women in medicine, which affects their ability to be hired or promoted. These patterns lead to an overall disparity between male and female doctors in medical leadership roles.
These actions hurt not only female doctors, but all women receiving healthcare in the United States, as medical practices are being increasingly influenced by the political world. “Lawmakers increasingly intrude into the realm of medical practice, often to satisfy political agendas without regard to established, evidence- based guidelines for care” [2]. Especially because large aspects of women's healthcare has more recently turned into political controversy, there are a multitude of bad medicine laws that are preventing women from receiving fair care. Some of these include biased counseling laws, ultrasounds requirements, mandatory delays, medical abortion restrictions, and targeted regulations of abortion providers.
The first step to recover from the attacks on women’s healthcare is to uplift female doctors to positions in leadership. Many studies have even shown that female physicians provide better care compared to their male counterparts. These women can use their knowledge to help figure out courses of action to properly deal with legal restrictions while protecting their patients and doctors alike.
References
[1] Mangurian, Christina. “What’s Holding Women in Medicine Back from Leadership.” Harvard Business Review. June 19, 2018. https://hbr.org/2018/06/whats-holding-women-in-medicine-back-from-leadership#:~:text=Women%20account%20for%20only%2018,%25)
[2] Ness, Debra. “Bad Medicine: How a Political Agenda Is Undermining Abortion Care and Access.” National Partnerships. March, 2018. https://nationalpartnership.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/bad-medicine-third-edition.pdf
[3] Searing, Linda. “The Big Number: Women now outnumber men in medical schools.” The Washington Post. December 23, 2019. https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/the-big-number-women-now-outnumber-men-in-medical-schools/2019/12/20/8b9eddea-2277-11ea-bed5-880264cc91a9_story.html
Kate Vavra is a rising sophomore at Mount Holyoke College and is double majoring in International Relations and French. On campus, Kate plays varsity tennis and serves as the Community Service Subcommittee Chair on the Student Athlete Advisory Committee. After graduation, Kate hopes to go to law school and become an attorney.