NetNews Usenet Archive 1992 #31/NN_1992_31.iso/spool/sci/med/23174

Internet Message Format | 1992-12-29 | 3.1 KB

Xref: sparky sci.med:23174 sci.anthropology:1628
Path: sparky!uunet!spool.mu.edu!agate!usenet.ins.cwru.edu!cleveland.Freenet.Edu!an725
From: [e-mail] (Paul L. Fortman, Jr.)
Newsgroups: sci.med,sci.anthropology
Subject: Re: Women Doctors
Date: 29 Dec 1992 21:08:32 GMT
Organization: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH (USA)
Lines: 49
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
References: <[e-mail]> <[e-mail]>
Reply-To: [e-mail] (Paul L. Fortman, Jr.)
NNTP-Posting-Host: hela.ins.cwru.edu



I am cross posting this to sci.anthropology for any medical anthropologists
that may be interested in this discussion.

In a previous article, [e-mail] (Miriam Nadel) says:
>In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] writes:
>>     It seems that the rate of malpractice suits are lower for women, but
>>again, I need data.
>
>You would need to take into account differences in areas of specialization.
>Women physicians are still most likely to be psychiatrists, pediatricians
>and pathologists and I suspect the malpractice suit rate is relatively
>low for at least two of these specialties.  Obstetricians suffer from
>particularly high rates of malpractice suits and women are more
>underrepresented in this field.  In general, surgical subspecialties are
>the target of more malpractice suits than medical subspecialties.
>
>So any meaningful statistics would be within a particular specialty.  You
>might also find that women who are in the "riskier" specialties have lower
>rates of malpractice suits because only the best (or, at least, most
>motivated) women survive the isolation and discouragement.  This is
>conjecture on my point by analogy to the experience of women in other fields
>that they're underrepresented in (e.g. women engineering students generally
>get better grades than men in the same classes).

I too think you have to break it down by speciality.  I also agree with,
in general, that only the best or most motivated or with the best endurance
survive med school (male dominated), although I would think this to be the
case with all women doctors, not just specialists.

As far as who prefers a woman doctor rather than a male doctor, I think
much has to do with the culture and its social conditioning.  A previous
post mentioned something like older people prefered male doctors and
younger people preferred women doctors.  This would tend to reflect some of
the changes in our culture.  I think that in time you will see more
acceptance of women doctors, as well as in other professions, as society in
general gradually accepts women in roles other than that of mother and
home-maker.  It is possible that women doctors are, or are perceived to be,
more nurturant than male doctors.

To add one more statistic to anyone who may be keeping track:
I prefer women doctors.  I am 37, a college grad with a BS in psychology,
an MS in education, and about to start a Ph.D. program in anthropology.

*Paul
--
[e-mail]
[e-mail]