Young female physicians face a myriad of challenges. They are paid just 74 percent of what their male counterparts earn and they are underrepresented in leadership, for example. The systemic gender inequities in medicine immediately put female physicians at a disadvantage, but on top of that, they are routinely condescended and disrespected by the patients whose lives they work to save.
Faye Reiff-Pasarew, MD, a 34-year-old hospitalist at New York City-based Mount Sinai Health System, recently penned an article in The Washington Post detailing the delicate balance between the need to maintain her authority, assertiveness and confidence and the need to overcome gender stereotyping from patients that can impede to care.
"Though I'm 34 and have been an attending physician for several years, after nearly a decade of medical training, patients routinely ask how old I am, tell me I look like 'a baby' and, most infuriating, call me 'cute' or 'adorable,' as if I were a preschooler playing dress-up," Dr. Reiff-Pasarew wrote. "A few have even asked to be seen by a 'real' doctor instead of a 'girl.' It's an experience that's not unique to me but familiar to many other young women in the profession. And while young men may similarly struggle to prove themselves as doctors, they're never called 'sweetie.'"
Providing the best quality care possible to patients who project these stereotypes onto young female physicians is not merely a matter of growing thicker skin. Dr. Reiff-Pasarew — and all physicians — needs her patients to trust her and feel confident in her hands. When there is an emergency, there is no time to spare.
"I don't have the luxury of time during multiple office visits to earn their trust. Any delay can be dangerous. We can't afford — nor can our patients — for our recommendations to be taken with a grain of salt," she wrote.
Read Dr. Reiff-Pasarew's full article here.