Is it better to get treated by a female or male doctor?
You probably thought the answer to this question did not matter. Research conducted in the United States of America revealed that it is an important question to be answered.
A team of researchers from Harvard University reviewed the situation and found that the chances of re-admission or death within 30 days of hospitalization were reduced significantly if a patient was being treated by a female doctor.
Despite this being the reality, it is usually found that the salary of a female doctor is 8 percent lower than that of a male doctor. When this discrimination is questioned, we get answers pointing towards factors like maternity leave and part-time schedules along with other domestic responsibilities that are considered to be more of a woman’s than a man’s.
But the reality is in contrast to what we have been assuming for a long time. In fact, if all doctors are females, we will see 32,000 lesser deaths in the U.S every year. That is definitely a big number when considering the health of an entire nation. What makes female doctors more competent?
The secret to their success lies in providing preventive care along with psychosocial counseling. Researches conducted earlier also throw light on the fact that female doctors adhere to the clinical guidelines more sincerely than male doctors. Female doctors are found to have a more patient-centric approach when compared to their male counterparts.
The research does not suggest that all of us should look for female doctors when sick. This is obviously impractical because only one-third of the physicians in America are women. The best thing to do would be to identify the reason behind the differences and remove them forever. This research was published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine and gave us an important to ponder upon. Should female doctors still be paid less than male doctors?
