“Where Is the Doctor?”: On Being a Woman in Interventional Pulmonology

By Sonali Sethi, MD

Women physicians have been practicing medicine in the U.S. for over 160 years. However, the number of women in interventional and surgical fields remains low. Over the past couple of years, the number of women training in and practicing interventional pulmonology (IP) is growing and corresponds with the growth of women physicians in other procedural-based specialties. However, despite the increasing number of women surgeons and interventionalists, women physicians continue to face unique challenges and experiences. We recently addressed these challenges in an editorial in the Journal of Bronchology and Interventional Pulmonology.

“Where is the doctor?”

A woman in scrubs walking through wards, ICUs and ORs rarely gets recognized as a doctor, much less as a surgeon or interventionalist. In response to this environment of gendered expectations, women often feel compelled to prove themselves above and beyond. In order to gain the same level of acceptance as their male counterparts, women feel they need to increase the quality of their work by 50 percent compared with men.

With these increased pressures, the difficulties of balancing work and home become intensified. The personal price of a career for an interventionalist or surgeon appears to be higher for a woman. Women are more likely to remain unmarried or divorced and have fewer or no children compared with their male colleagues. Research shows that women experience guilt about taking maternity leave because of increased workloads for their colleagues.

Creating a balance between work and personal life as a physician is a universal issue that should not be gender-specific. Working alongside women role models that are skilled, compassionate and confident can empower trainees and teach both leadership and life skills. As women, we should embrace our diversity and acknowledge our positive impact on our profession. Good mentorship on work-life integration will help to attract and retain the most talented female candidates and promote an environment that fosters inclusion.

Women physicians beget women physicians

The best way to predict career success in a given medical field for a woman is to study the number of women faculty members. The higher the number, the higher the chances of success for another woman. According to data from the Association of American Medical Colleges, 21 percent of women have full professorship, 15 percent of women are department chairs and 16 percent of women are deans. Wage discrepancies abound. The only way we can implement change is to recognize the talent and qualifications of women through faculty and leadership appointments.

As women physicians, we have an obligation not only to contribute to our fields and practice quality medicine; we must mentor other women and create an environment conducive to our inclusion in procedural and surgical specialties.

Dr. Sethi is an interventional pulmonologist and staff in the Department of Pulmonary Medicine.