At every stage of their career, women are relentlessly questioned if they are capable of handling the demands of their profession while managing familial responsibilities. It has always struck me as odd that my male counterparts are never approached with a similar line of questioning or compelled to wonder why these queries are unreasonable. This dilemma is especially prevalent in the American medical field, and the question becomes if the sacrifice for female doctors to undergo additional training in surgery is worth the cost of starting a family.
Why is the absence of women in medicine a concern?
One study completed by Dr. Christopher Wallis, Dr. Robert Nam and Dr. Raj Satkunasivam concluded that for select surgical procedures, postoperative complications, namely mortality and readmission in the patients of female surgeons, had a 30-day lower mortality rate than their male counterparts. This significant difference highlights the problem with fewer female surgeons in the medical field. There is a possibility that optimal patient care can depend on the gender of the surgeon. The underrepresentation of female surgeons in the medical field negatively impacts the care a patient receives, suggesting that further support and opportunities presented to female surgeons will trickle down to improved patient care.
Why are there few female surgeons?
Many women stray away from highly skilled professions, such as surgery, because it often requires additional years of training, which severely compromises the number of children they can have. As someone who is planning on becoming a physician I was told that there is no way to plan a family in medical school and residency. I would just have to figure it out and adjust when the time came. Years of training and career-building coincide with the peak childbearing years of the mid- to late-twenties, resulting in few women in the medical field.
In her article, “I Spent My Fertile Years Training to Be a Surgeon. Now, It Might Be Too Late for Me to Have a Baby,” Dr. Arghavan Salles, an assistant professor of surgery at Washington University in St. Louis, articulates the journey a female surgeon has to endure to balance her contrasting personal desires and her societal niche as a woman. In her early years as a surgeon, Salles says, “I had subjected my body to too many nights on call, irregular exercise habits and too much stress.” Due to the high stress environment that follows the work as a surgeon, Salles’ body had been negatively affected, a situation quite common among female surgeons. Her goal now is to inform younger women of the options they have for the possibility of starting a family in the future before time runs out.
“As I pushed myself to write one more paper, do one more study, say yes to one more project or responsibility, I never considered the impact on my body.“
Dr. Arghavan Salles
Do gender roles play a part in which medical fields women physicians are drawn to?
Dr. Jacques Balayla, a medical resident in obstetrics and gynecology at McGill University found that female residents rose in number from 44% to 74% between 1989 and 2002. Not only are women directed toward fields like obstetrics and gynecology that require less time commitment, but also towards careers that reflect the natural characteristics of a female: nurturing and motherly. Women are expected to be home at a certain hour for their families, thus more likely to choose careers that allow them to do this. Fields like obstetrics and gynecology allow for a clear and stable work and life balance compared to more sporadic fields like surgery.
For years, female medical professionals have worked relentlessly to advance in a male-dominated profession. It is evident that female surgeons may provide better comprehensive patient care than male surgeons. It was found in another study that patients treated by female surgeons were less likely to die, be readmitted to the hospital or have unplanned complications within 30 days than those treated by male surgeons.
Despite these advancements, women in medicine today continue to face obstacles through societal pressures such as bearing children and domestic responsibilities hamper women’s career ambitions. With all this in mind, some women choose not to have children and are very successful and fulfilled in their life.
What can be done?
One form of support is legal advocacy where some women in medical school could be encouraged to freeze their eggs to have a chance to start a family when they achieve job security and financial stability.
Another way is to support your female friends who are thinking about a medical profession. It is a difficult profession, and it takes a team to help achieve their goals. Text messages or notes of support are thoroughly appreciated by every woman making these decisions.