Women In Medicine

By Kristin Biggee, MD

Maryland Eye Associates

. http://marylandeyeassociates.com

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Women In Medicine

Recent data from the American Academy of Medical Colleges shows that nearly half of all graduating doctors in the United States in 2007-2008 were women. This number has steadily grown since 1966 when the percentage of female medical graduates was only eight out of every 100 doctors. The steady growth of women in medicine over the past 40 years is largely a result of the cultural changes that arose from the civil rights and feminist movements in the 1960's and 1970's. Before this era, women in medicine were a distinct minority.

Like many professions, they had to fight hard for equal rights and job opportunities. This began during the early feminist movement in the 1800's. The first woman doctor was Elizabeth Blackwell who graduated from Geneva Medical College in New York in 1849. Change occurred slowly with Harvard Medical School not admitting women until 1945 and Jefferson College of Medicine in Philadelphia, PA being the last to admit women in 1960. Even in 2002, only one out of every four doctors was a woman.

Over the years women made countless contributions to medicine and science at first creating Women and Children's Hospitals, and then going on to stand aside their male colleagues as associate medical professors, scientific researchers, and deans of medical schools. In 1947 Gerty Cori became the first woman to receive a Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine. In 1990 Antonia Novello became the first woman and first Hispanic appointed as US Surgeon General. Many suggest women also brought more attention to the importance of culture, spirituality, and the art of healing into the doctor-patient relationship.

The notion that only men are surgeons is also changing. One in every three surgeons in training is now a woman. After obstetrics and gynecology, ophthalmology is the surgical field with the next highest number of women in current training programs. In 2007, less than one out of every hundred U.S. ophthalmologists was a woman. This number will definitely grow in the near future. The number of female residents who are training to be eye surgeons increased from almost one out of every three residents in 1997 to almost half of them in 2007.

The appeal of a better work life balance is becoming more important to both women and men physicians as traditional gender roles continue to change in our country. Most eye surgery and eye care is now done in an outpatient clinic or surgery center during regular working hours. This may be one reason ophthalmology is becoming a more competitive specialty. In 2007 there were 792 medical school graduates applying for 449 training positions in ophthalmology.

So, how will more women in medicine affect patient care? Does a more equal balance of gender make doctors better able to relate with their patients? Does it offer patients more choice in who to have as a doctor or a surgeon? With more females applying to colleges than males these days, the number of female physicians is only likely to increase. It is unclear how this will exactly affect the future of this profession. However, the face of medicine is definitely changing and it's an exciting time to be a part of someting that continues to define the traditional role of doctors.