Sexual discrimination in medicine

Posted by: Witch Doctor | April 6, 2008

Sexual discrimination in medicine

SEXUAL DISCRIMINATION

Until recently there was blatant discrimination against women entering medical school.

In the Witch Doctor’s opinion this was wrong, wrong, wrong!

That too was the opinion of society at large.

There may also have been blatant discrimination against women once they had qualified as doctors. This however, is much more difficult to prove because failure to progress in a career, for example from trainee to consultant, in many instances may be a reflection of individual choice. In life there are no homogeneous groups. This is particularly true of women doctors who also have family commitments. If a woman with half a dozen children becomes a professor of neurosurgery, this does not imply that a high proportion of women bringing up children could achieve the equivalent. The female of The Humankind, with the help of society and Mother Nature, is positioned at the very centre of the family unit. Furthermore, each family unit is a complex phenomenon as unique as a fingerprint. As a consequence, female doctors in particular, do not form an easily identified group to study. The Witch Doctor doubts if this group has ever been studied well, taking all the variables imposed by family life into account.

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The Witch Doctor was also displeased at how MTAS was handled.

The Witch Doctor felt MTAS blatantly discriminated against women.

And that was wrong, wrong, wrong!

The Witch Doctor also believes that to watch an intake of females into medical schools reach the 65%, 70% and even 80% mark without properly questioning why this is so, is also very wrong.

There are four questions that need to be asked.

1. Are males who are applying for medicine now being discriminated against?

2. Are males now choosing not to enter medicine?

3. What are the effects of a predominantly female medical workforce on patient care?

4. What are the effects of a predominantly female medical workforce on the role of the doctor?

These four questions should not be mixed up with another question.

5. How can the career progression of women doctors be enhanced?

The fifth question is the one that is usually addressed in medical and educational journals.

The first four questions are rarely addressed.

And that is wrong, wrong wrong!

a red apple ……………………