Dr. Shikha Jain wants women to thrive in the medical field.
Jane is the founder of Women in Medicine, a Chicago-based nonprofit that helps women advance into leadership positions as medical professionals while empowering men to help reduce and eliminate the gender gap in the field.
Therefore, she was not surprised by the results of recent studies that showed how good female doctors are at their jobs.
“Women are exceptional doctors, exceptional health care workers,” Jain said. “Despite this, they are not appreciated for it and are expelled from medicine.”
Two recent national studies found that patients are more likely to receive life-saving care from women than from their male counterparts. But women in medicine often don't have the same opportunities to advance their careers, are overlooked for promotions and mentoring and are paid much less than men in the profession, several female doctors in Chicago told the Sun-Times.
“All of these things are driven by implicit and explicit bias,” said Jain, who is also a medical oncologist at UI Health. “So the challenge becomes how do we deal with a system that is set up with barriers to women's advancement?”
Dr. Shikha Jain is the founder of Women in Medicine, a Chicago-based non-profit organization that helps female medical professionals advance to leadership positions.
One study, published in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine in April, examined hospital outcomes for nearly 800,000 patients aged 65 or older between 2016 and 2019. Patients who saw a female doctor were less likely to die and less likely to be readmitted to the hospital. The researchers found that hospitalized patients compared to those who saw a male doctor. Female patients had better outcomes when treated by women.
“There is evidence in primary care to suggest that, compared with male physicians, female physicians are more likely to practice evidence-based medicine, perform as well or better on standardized examinations, and provide more patient-centered care,” the study says. .
Researchers point to several factors driving these differences. Male doctors may underestimate the severity of a female patient's illness, and female doctors are more likely to be intentional in treating complex problems. The study concluded that if male doctors could achieve the same results as female doctors, an estimated 32,000 patients would die every year.
Patients operated on by women also had fewer complications after surgery, according to another study published last August in the Journal of the American Medical Association looking at surgical outcomes in more than 1 million patients.
The study found that patients treated by men were 25% more likely to experience adverse outcomes one year after surgery compared to patients treated by female surgeons. Adverse outcomes include death, readmission to hospital and complications of the procedure.
They are overlooked and underpaid
These findings come as more women are practicing medicine in the United States than ever before. By 2021, more than 37% of doctors will be women, compared to about 28% in 2007, according to the latest data from the American Medical Association.
However, women still get the short end of the stick.
Nearly 40% of female doctors work part-time or leave medicine altogether within six years of completing their residency, according to a 2019 University of Michigan study. Women in medicine experience burnout more than men, according to an analysis published by George University School of Medicine and Health Sciences Washington in February. They also receive much lower wages. Over the course of a 40-year career, female doctors earned $2 million less than their male counterparts, according to a study published in the medical journal Health Affairs in December 2021.
Women also often don't receive feedback and guidance that would help them get promotions, said Dr. Vineet Arora, an academic hospitalist and dean of medical education at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine.
In environments where doctors need to take charge, such as in operating rooms, women often pay the “liking penalty,” Arora said.
“They are told to be more of a leader and to be more assertive, but when they actually do that, they pay the penalty for acting against gender norms,” said Arora, who also conducts research on gender equality in medical education.
Dr. Vineet Arora is an academic hospitalist and dean of medical education at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine.
Provided by the University of Chicago
Princess Curence, chief diversity, equity and inclusion officer at Rush Medical College, wasn't surprised by the studies' results either.
“These people are not magic. This is because the doctor has experience and a knowledge base that allows him to ask better questions,” Curence said. “When doctors have the same identity as their patient, they are more likely to request more consultations, make more referrals, and order more.” Of tests. They will also ask non-medical questions about their lives.
A doctor's biases about gender, race, ethnicity, or class, whether they are aware of them or not, can lead to poor health outcomes for their patients.
“The clinical environment is a pressure cooker for bias,” she said. “When doctors are dealing with the stress of illness or don't have time to make decisions, they resort to what they know because it's quick.”
But when a doctor shares something in common with a patient — such as a doctor treating a woman — they are more likely to ask questions that will lead them to a fuller picture of what could be wrong with the patient.
Princess Currence, director of curriculum and instruction at Rush Medical College and a doctor of social work, shares how she teaches medical students how to address their own biases that get in the way of patient care.
Provided by Rush Medical College
However, anyone can correct their bias, Curence said. Medical students at Rush are taught how to ask better questions, maintain their curiosity, and learn about the context of their patients, such as the social, political, or economic barriers they face.
“Being aware of bias doesn’t mean being nice,” she said. “It's about being efficient, getting the best care, looking at the patient in front of you and giving them complete dignity and respect.”
Jain said these findings do not pit men against women, or say that men make bad doctors. Instead, there appear to be particular strengths that women possess, such as building relationships with their patients, that are likely to help them determine an effective diagnosis and treatment.
Despite the barriers, Jane hopes that organizations like hers will not only increase the number of women in leadership positions, but also provide healthier patients.
“When leadership is representative of the patients being served, outcomes are better,” Jain said. “So, keeping women in leadership and elevating them to the level of leadership is not only the right thing to do, it is also what is best for the health of our communities.”
