March 8th, is International Women’s Day and ladies, we nailing it. I am surrounded by kick @ss women every day. Some days we know it and we own it, but many days we talk about imposter syndrome, how many times we’ve been inappropriately addressed or how a family deferred to a male trainee 10 or more years junior to us. Yet, we persist.
Did you know that women are more likely to receive a bachelors degree by age 29 than men? Today 47% of the workforce is women and nearly 70% of women with children under the age of 18 are working mothers. Despite the increase in mothers’ labor force participation, they continue to bear an unequal share of unpaid caregiving and household responsibilities according to the US Department of Labor. We do it all, and then we do a little bit more.
Interestingly, one third of all physicians are females and a JAMA study of 1.5 million hospital admissions for Medicare patients nicely showed that when all other things were controlled for, patients were less likely to die if their physician was female (no joke). Here are some key facts from this study:
- Patients treated by female physicians had a 0.43% lower chance of dying (11.07% vs. 11.49%) within the first 30 days after being admitted to the hospital than patients treated by male physicians
- Patients treated by female physicians were less likely (15.02% vs. 15.57%) to be re-admitted to the hospital within 30 days after being discharged from the hospital.
- Assuming that the association between sex and mortality is causal, researchers estimate that approximately 32, 000 fewer patients would die if male physicians could achieve the same outcomes as female physicians every year, and the number would be higher if the associations hold true for non Medicare patients
Why would gender make such a difference?
Evidence from primary care settings (clinic based) show that:
- Female physicians are more likely to practice evidence-based medicine,
- Female physicians perform as well or better on standardized examinations
- Female physicians provide more patient-centered care
- Patients of female primary care physicians experience fewer emergency department visits compared with patients of male primary care physicians.
To all my women, especially my hardworking mothers and women in STEM – we are not imposters. We belong exactly where we are and we have the evidence to prove it. To celebrate our general awesomeness I will:
- Not start my emails or conversations with with “I was just wondering…or I’m sorry to bother you…”
- Encourage young girls and women to go after their dreams
- Support my fellow working mothers — because this is hard.
- Support my stay at home moms — because that is hard too.
- Not fall into any sort of working mom guilt. I love my job and it makes me a better mother.
- Not apologize for my intelligence or ideas.
- Not downplay my or my fellow women’s successes. Own it ladies.
- Teach my daughter that she is beautiful and strong, no matter how she looks on the outside.
- Teach my son how to treat fellow human beings, including women.
- Take time for myself and refuse to be everything for everyone.
Happy International Women’s Day
