Women in Healthcare

ANNIE PATEL – Among all the careers in healthcare, women make up a large part of the workforce. Globally, 70% of healthcare workers are women. However, men still hold the majority of physician jobs. Despite this, even in largely male-dominated specialties and leadership roles, there is a steady increase in the number of women entering these positions each year.

There are many medical specialties that are traditionally male-dominated. However,  more women are entering these fields. Specifically, within the five, most male-dominated medical specialties, which are orthopedic surgery, neurological surgery, interventional radiology, thoracic surgery, and pain medicine, all are 75% male or more. In the last few years, there has been an increase of women residents in the fields of neurological and thoracic surgery by over 55%. Meanwhile, the increase of women residents is smaller in the specialty of orthopedic surgery with only a 27.3% increase. Thus, this exemplifies that more women are striving to take on male-dominated roles. 

Leadership positions within the medical community are also increasingly being held by women. These leadership positions include hospital boards and healthcare policy. However, the percentage of positions that women currently possess is still low at less than 20%. Of this, it is noted that “19% of hospitals and 4% of healthcare companies are led by women,” suggesting there is still much more that needs to be done. Women who already hold these positions can serve as role models to medical students, and it may encourage more women to aim for these roles.

There is still a lot of improvement needed to properly encourage and provide resources to women, so they can take on the challenges of achieving non-traditional roles. As more women hold these jobs and the percent of men and women becomes more equal, there will be more diverse policies and an overall better healthcare experience. 

Copy Editor: Courteney Malin

Photography Source: Rylan Puent, https://www.athenahealth.com/knowledge-hub/practice-management/healthcare-ready-be-led-women