Where are all the women?
Well, other than pregnant and at their OB, naturally.
I STILL haven't met a female, non-resident physician in the city I'm in. While hanging out with a half dozen (all male) doctors in the doctors lounge this week, I jokingly asked where all the female physicians were.
I still don't know. I know that I looked at my schedule for the next two weeks and am not scheduled with any female physicians. I know that they jokingly replied that they "don't work as hard" and they were all "sharing one job" (which, to be fair, is more common among women to "job share" one full position with two people, so they end up working a smaller total number of hours). I know that several of the doctors I've shadowed have made comments on the fact that I'm female and how that (according to them) should play into my career/specialty choice. I find this..."interesting."
Naturally, I do think that the way that I envision my "life-style" (overused buzz word which seems to mean "whether I want to work 40-60 hrs a week or 80+ hours a week") in 20 years certainly will affect the kind of practice I seek and it very well may be one of the "female/family friendly" ones that these physicians seem to be advocating for (even though they aren't often in practice in these fields). However, I do not like how it is ASSUMED I (or any of the other women in or entering the field) do or do not have certain goals and affinities, simply because I am female. Moreover, I'd like to hear about what THEIR lifestyle in THEIR specialty is like, not what they think the lifestyle of the average day of a ___(insert specialty here)___ is like. And, I've heard similar stories from many female medical student I've talked to.
Interesting indeed.
I STILL haven't met a female, non-resident physician in the city I'm in. While hanging out with a half dozen (all male) doctors in the doctors lounge this week, I jokingly asked where all the female physicians were.
I still don't know. I know that I looked at my schedule for the next two weeks and am not scheduled with any female physicians. I know that they jokingly replied that they "don't work as hard" and they were all "sharing one job" (which, to be fair, is more common among women to "job share" one full position with two people, so they end up working a smaller total number of hours). I know that several of the doctors I've shadowed have made comments on the fact that I'm female and how that (according to them) should play into my career/specialty choice. I find this..."interesting."
Naturally, I do think that the way that I envision my "life-style" (overused buzz word which seems to mean "whether I want to work 40-60 hrs a week or 80+ hours a week") in 20 years certainly will affect the kind of practice I seek and it very well may be one of the "female/family friendly" ones that these physicians seem to be advocating for (even though they aren't often in practice in these fields). However, I do not like how it is ASSUMED I (or any of the other women in or entering the field) do or do not have certain goals and affinities, simply because I am female. Moreover, I'd like to hear about what THEIR lifestyle in THEIR specialty is like, not what they think the lifestyle of the average day of a ___(insert specialty here)___ is like. And, I've heard similar stories from many female medical student I've talked to.
Interesting indeed.