Differences in "productivity"
The Telegraph (UK 2008) reports on a study released ahead of print today on the website of the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine. "Gender and variation in activity rates of hospital consultants" found that female doctors in Britain's National Health Service saw about 20% fewer patients per year than male doctors. This finding led the Telegraph to call women "less productive", a phrase not appearing in the article. The article does conclude, however, that "feminization of the profession could lead to reduced productivity over time." The study controlled for the doctors' specialties, but not for hours worked or time spent on teaching or administration. The authors, in quotes to the newspaper, seem to espouse different theories for the disparity, with Nick Freemantle blaming work-life balance and Karen Bloor suspecting more time spent answering patient questions.
I have a suspicion that people react differently to male and female doctors, and that probably influences the time-per-patient. I've been told, although I haven't looked it up, that both men and women are more comfortable talking about medical issues with women -- which is why women are preferred hires for medical phone lines. (There's a couple posts in that sentence alone.) Now, I'm a little suspicious of the quotes provided in the Telegraph article. Did the guy really say "they're home with the kids" and the woman really say "they're more caring"? I'm almost certainly reading too much into it, but I'm curious whether the scientists are really espousing different theories, or whether the reporter divided the quotes up that way as journalistic license.
I have a suspicion that people react differently to male and female doctors, and that probably influences the time-per-patient. I've been told, although I haven't looked it up, that both men and women are more comfortable talking about medical issues with women -- which is why women are preferred hires for medical phone lines. (There's a couple posts in that sentence alone.) Now, I'm a little suspicious of the quotes provided in the Telegraph article. Did the guy really say "they're home with the kids" and the woman really say "they're more caring"? I'm almost certainly reading too much into it, but I'm curious whether the scientists are really espousing different theories, or whether the reporter divided the quotes up that way as journalistic license.