How often do you think of women as surgeons? Do you think of women as doctors? I hope you do. The number of women doctors and surgeons has grown. However, more are needed. Women make up less than one-quarter of ten surgical specialties. In addition to this, they only make up about 24 chairs of surgery departments. The majority of chairs of surgery are held by men. One of the issues is women doctors are often mistaken for nurses because doctors are still viewed as men. The idea that only men can be doctors still exists, but there is no truth to this. Women are doctors. Without a doubt, more women need to be recruited as surgeons as well as hold leadership positions in medicine.
Sexual harassment
Women in medicine experience sexual harassment and discrimination. About one in five women surgeons in training are sexually harassed. They experience physical abuse and verbal abuse from their colleagues. Equally important, 14% of women surgeons say they were sexually assaulted in the workplace. If a woman surgeon reports the abuse in the workplace, they face retaliation. In other words, women are afraid that their careers will be in jeopardy if they report. This stops a lot of women from reporting the abuse despite being harassed by their supervisors. Overall, navigating the abuse and the job is overwhelming and wrong. Women should never be harassed.
Black women are surgeons
The lack of black surgeons is a problem because diversity is necessary for such an important field. For instance, in 2008, there were only 25 neurosurgeons who were black women. The reason for this is because neurosurgery has invested in making their department more diverse. Despite this, black women only make up about 2% of doctors. Black women are capable of being doctors just as well as surgeons. There should be no reason why they still make up such a small percentage. Even though there are some surgical departments, like neurosurgery, who are investing in diversity, more departments have to do the same.
It should be noted, that patients feel more comfortable when their provider looks like them. It is easier for them to communicate their needs and feel heard. This is especially important when a patient needs surgery. Having more black women surgeons increases a patient’s trust in their doctor. Patients feel more comfortable when they know their doctor cares about them. Without a doubt, it is really important to have a diverse group of doctors.
Equal pay
There is no doubt that having a diverse group of women in the surgical field would make the field better. Although more women are enrolling in medical school, they need to be recruited in all medical fields, including surgery. Moreover, surgeons need equal pay because women are paid less than their male colleagues. Male surgeons earn one third more than women. Clearly, it is wrong that women are making less money than men considering they are doing the same job. In 30-year-period women are expected to earn $30,000 less each year than a man. The amount of money that women are not going to make during this period is a big loss. Nonetheless, it is necessary to pay women equally. Being a surgeon is a tough job. Thus, women deserve to be equally compensated for their hard work.
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