I have had the good fortune to work with amazing doctors, men and women alike. Still, the media continues to favor male physicians as the “experts”. When you think of popular physicians in the media today, Anthony Fauci, Atul Gawande, Sanjay Gupta, Mark Hyman, or even Kevin Pho (Kevin MD) come to mind, maybe even the less reputable ones like Mehmet Oz and Drew Pinsky.

Women Work As Good As and Sometimes Better Than Men

Now, name just as many female physicians off the top of your head. There are important ones to be sure — Jennifer Arnold, Nicole Baldwin, Jennifer Gunter, Christina Johns, Marjorie Stiegler, and Rochelle Walensky — but they are not household names. Dr. Pimple Popper is popular, but not everyone knows her as Sandra Lee. Even though more women than men are graduating from medical school these days, female physicians are still underrepresented in the media. Why is that the case when they perform just as good as or even better than men?

Female doctors spend more time with patients than their male counterparts.

Diagnosis Life summary:
There is a pay gap in medicine and data continues to show how ridiculous it is. A study in the New England Journal of Medicine (https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMsa2013804) found that female physicians spend more time with their patients, as much as 2.4 minutes per visit. While that may not sound like a lot, that adds 16% more time to the average 15 minute visit. That gives extra time for a question, extra time to educate, extra time to connect. It adds up. Still, despite the quality care, women make less than men. It’s time for a change.

Male physicians do not always give equal care to female patients.

Diagnosis Life summary:
If you’re a woman, the gender of your physician could affect the care you receive. A systemic review in the Journal of the American Heart Association (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jacc.2020.12.031) looked at the gender of physicians and their patients across 8 studies. In 6 of these studies, female patients got less intensive care than their male counterparts when treated by male doctors. Female physicians were more likely to give equitable care. Altogether, female doctors decreased a woman’s risk of death by 6.5%. Clearly, more has to be done to tackle gender bias in medicine.

Women who have a heart attack are more likely to survive if they are seen by a female doctor.

Diagnosis Life summary:
The gender pay gap continues with female physicians paid a fourth less than their male counterparts. This remains the case even though female doctors time and again show that they can deliver equal or better health outcomes. A study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1800097115) found that women suffering an MI are less likely to survive emergency-department treatment by a male than by a female doctor. Males with an MI had similar outcomes regardless of the gender of the physician. Unfortunately, this could relate to attitudes about women’s health. A man may be seen as more likely to have a heart attack where a woman may be seen as having “anxiety”. Even medical professionals can steer towards unconscious gender biases.