Mentoring women in academic surgery: overcoming institutional barriers to success.
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Women now comprise 50% of Caucasian matriculants to medical school; 66.6% of African Americans, 48% of Hispanics and 51.3% of Asians beginning medical school are also women. This trend is likely to continue since women now earn 57% of all undergraduate degrees, and they earn more degrees in the health professions and biological sciences than men. Black and Hispanic women now earn 66% and 60% of bachelor's degrees in their respective ethnic groups. Overall, women are concentrated at the lowest faculty ranks at medical schools, with 70% holding the rank of instructor or assistant professor. Women continue to experience difficulty with recruitment, retention, promotion and pay issues compared to men. They also experience additional gender-specific issues, including primary responsibility for rearing families and quality-of-life issues in some specialties, including most of the surgical disciplines. Clearly, there is an evolving population shift at work here; the pool of candidates for medical school faculty positions is likely to be evenly split between men and women for Caucasians, Hispanics and Asians, while the African-American pool is likely heavily weighted in favor of the women. Women are beginning to garner more Latin honors recognition at graduation as well and the definition of the "best and the brightest" is being redefined. Therefore, institutions must continue to identify the barriers that deter women from entering surgery, to develop research tools to understand how to improve the process of developing leadership skills among women and to insure a "buy-in" of their male counterparts when components of the plan are being implemented. (+info)
Internal medicine specialists' attitudes towards working part-time: a comparison between 1996 and 2004.
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BACKGROUND: Although medical specialists traditionally hold negative views towards working part-time, the practice of medicine has evolved. Given the trend towards more part-time work and that there is no evidence that it compromises the quality of care, attitudes towards part-time work may have changed as well in recent years. The aim of this paper was to examine the possible changes in attitudes towards part-time work among specialists in internal medicine between 1996 and 2004. Moreover, we wanted to determine whether these attitudes were associated with individual characteristics (age, gender, investments in work) and whether attitudes of specialists within a partnership showed more resemblance than specialists' attitudes from different partnerships. METHODS: Two samples were used in this study: data of a survey conducted in 1996 and in 2004. After selecting internal medicine specialists working in general hospitals in The Netherlands, the sample consisted of 219 specialists in 1996 and 363 specialists in 2004. They were sent a questionnaire, including topics on the attitudes towards part-time work. RESULTS: Internal medicine specialists' attitudes towards working part-time became slightly more positive between 1996 and 2004. Full-time working specialists in 2004 still expressed concerns regarding the investments of part-timers in overhead tasks, the flexibility of task division, efficiency, communication and continuity of care. In 1996 gender was the only predictor of the attitude, in 2004 being a full- or a part-timer, age and the time invested in work were associated with this attitude. Furthermore, specialists' attitudes were not found to cluster much within partnerships. CONCLUSION: In spite of the increasing number of specialists working or preferring to work part-time, part-time practice among internal medicine specialists seems not to be fully accepted. The results indicate that the attitudes are no longer gender based, but are associated with age and work aspects such as the number of hours worked. Though there is little evidence to support them, negative ideas about the consequences of part-time work for the quality of care still exist. Policy should be aimed at removing the organisational difficulties related to part-time work and create a system in which part-time practice is fully integrated and accepted. (+info)
Intergenerational differences in workloads among primary care physicians: a ten-year, population-based study.
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Analyses of population-based services and surveys in Canada from the early 1990s and early 2000s indicate that younger and middle-aged family physicians carried smaller workloads in 2003 than their same-age peers did ten years earlier and that older family physicians carried larger workloads in 2003 than their same-age peers did ten years earlier. Yet family physicians in all age groups worked similar numbers of hours in 2003. Intergenerational effects are similar for male and female physicians, although feminization of the workforce will affect supply, as a result of the falling service volumes delivered by women. (+info)
Who wants to be a surgeon? A study of 300 first year medical students.
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BACKGROUND: While medicine in general is becoming more female-dominated, women are still under-represented in surgery. Opinion is divided as to whether this is due to lifestyle considerations, disinterest or perceived discrimination. It is not clear at what stage these careers decisions are made. METHODS: 300 first year medical students at Guy's King's and St Thomas' School of Medicine (GKT) were asked their view on possible career choices at this stage. RESULTS: While men represented only 38% of the student population, they represented over two-thirds of the students wishing to pursue a career in surgery. Women still opt for general practice and paediatrics. CONCLUSION: Surgery is a disproportionately unpopular career choice of the female first-year medical students of GKT compared to the male students. It appears that the choice is freely made and, at this stage at least, does not represent concerns about compatibility with lifestyle. (+info)
Workplace stressors and lifestyle-related cancer risk factors among female physicians: assessment using the Occupational Stress Index.
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This study examined the relationship between work stressors and lifestyle-related cancer risk factors (LRCRF): smoking, obesity, sedentariness and alcohol consumption, among 112 female physicians in Novi Sad, a region of high LRCRF prevalence. The participation rate was 92.6%. Participants completed the physician-specific version of the Occupational Stress Index (OSI). Self-reported data concerning LRCRF and working conditions were cross-validated with medical records, as well as with worksite measurements and expert observations. A total of 35 (31.3%) of the physicians were current smokers and 10 (8.9%) were heavy smokers (>20 cigarettes/day); 23 (20.5%) had a body mass index (BMI) of 28 or more, and 11 (9.8%) were obese (BMI> or =30). Only 27 (24.1%) regularly engaged in recreational physical activity (PA). Slightly over 5% consumed alcohol daily. Altogether 15 (13.4%) had a low lifestyle-related cancer risk profile (not a current smoker, BMI<28, regular recreational PA and no daily alcohol consumption). Total OSI and several OSI aspects, particularly threat avoidance alone or in combination, showed significant multivariate associations with LRCRF, as did individual OSI elements. The latter included long work hours, restricted problem-solving strategy, insufficient help with clinical difficulties and supervisory responsibility (obesity and/or sedentariness) and problems hampering patient care (smoking). There is an urgent need to lower the LRCRF among female physicians in this high risk region. Our findings suggest that diminishing the work stressor burden should be considered when developing intervention strategies aimed at these risk factors. (+info)
The "ineffable freemasonry of sex": feminist surgeons and the establishment of radiotherapy in early twentieth-century Britain.
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In 1924 the London Committee of the Medical Women's Federation was instrumental in establishing a clinic for the purpose of investigating the radium treatment of cervical cancer. The scheme was later to evolve into a hospital, the Marie Curie, where adherence to the methods developed in Stockholm served to establish radiotherapy as an alternative to surgery in cancer of the cervix. This article examines the women's contribution in the light of feminist and professional struggles over the relative merits of surgery and radiotherapy. It argues that radiotherapy was an issue of special interest to women surgeons, not only because of the long history of feminist opposition to gynecological surgery, but also because it could widen women's access to the medical profession in the face of male exclusion from training posts and honorary appointments at voluntary hospitals. (+info)
Putting on the style: what patients think of the way their doctor dresses.
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The aim of this study was to determine how acceptable patients found different styles of doctors' dress and whether patients felt that a doctor's style of dress influenced their respect for his or her opinion. A total of 475 patients from five general practices in Lothian were surveyed using photographs of different styles in a male and female doctor and questions about their attitudes to doctors' dress in general. Overall, patients seemed to favour a more formal approach to dress, with the male doctor wearing a formal suit and tie and the female doctor in a white coat scoring the most high marks. This was particularly true of older patients and those in social classes 1 and 2. The male doctor wearing a tweed jacket and informal shirt and tie scored fewer low marks and this was therefore the least disliked of the outfits. There was a marked variation between preferences of patients registered with different practices. When asked, 28% of patients said they would be unhappy about consulting one of doctors shown, usually the ones who were informally dressed. However, some patients said they would dislike their doctor wearing a white coat. Although there are more important attributes for a general practitioner than the way he or she dresses, a majority of patients (64%) thought that the way their doctor dressed was very important or quite important. Given that 41% of the patients said they would have more confidence in the ability of one of the doctors based on their appearance it would seem logical for doctors to dress in a way that inspires confidence.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS) (+info)
GP workforce participation in Tasmania.
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BACKGROUND: Predicting future general practitioner workforce requires information about how demographic factors affect GP workforce participation. Regional differences might not be accounted for in national studies. The authors aimed to determine GP characteristics associated with workforce participation in Tasmania. METHODS: A self administered census of Tasmanian GPs measured GP demographics and the number of 3.5 hour sessions worked in 1 week in 2005. RESULTS: Four hundred and three GPs responded (76% response rate). Six percent of GPs were on leave at the time of the census. Age, gender and graduation outside of Australia, the United Kingdom or Ireland were associated with workforce participation, but rurality had no effect. The effect of age was modified by gender with women aged over 55 years being more likely to work full time (p=0.03). DISCUSSION: Factors affecting workforce participation may vary across regions. Predictions based on national models may need to be interpreted in the context of local circumstances. (+info)