Kashefi moved into private practice, she made sure that her calls were handled in the same manner-meaning that they were handled identically to calls taken for her male counterparts. Her referral rate improved once this adjustment was made. She asked if the same question was posed when scheduling a patient with a male provider, and it wasn’t. The attending immediately shared her feelings about the way these calls were being handled. Is that okay?” which, in the attending’s opinion, implied that it was not. Kashefi’s residency, one of her attendings overheard an employee scheduling a new patient. Carol Kashefi, current president of the San Diego Urologic Society, shared an experience that shaped her view of gender issues related to patient care. They don’t mind being relatively rare, but few want to be the first and only woman,” Dr. “That can be important to women when they are going into a male-dominated field. It may be that women in medical school are identifying with mentors who forged a path for the future of female urologists. ![]() Perhaps there are other considerations to be made with respect to why the field has experienced growth in recent years. Diana Kang of Scripps Health in La Jolla, CA, told me recently, “Some men are still a bit uncomfortable seeing a woman in urology.” It boils down to a patient’s comfort level and the factors that have shaped their personal perceptions pertaining to physician selection.Įxamples of physician-patient interactions where gender preference plays a role are still easy to find, despite the rise in female urologists and rationale behind why a patient might choose a woman over a man as their provider. Male and female patients alike may simply be seeking care from someone they feel they can talk to openly. There are men who prefer female physicians and vice versa. Conversely, it’s easy to suggest that some women may be more comfortable sharing such details with another woman, rather than a man. It isn’t hard to imagine that some male patients would struggle with the idea of seeking a woman’s professional guidance on a subject so personal. It affects their willingness to share intimate personal details and may even influence their decisions regarding treatment. That is especially true when dealing with sensitive issues such as those related to urology. It’s safe to say that a patient’s comfort level has a major impact on their experience seeking consultation from a medical professional. 4 The AUA census also points to a youth movement in female urologists, reporting that roughly 17.2% of female practicing urologists are under the age of 45. 3īut the tide is turning and approximately 25% of the people training to be urologists are women. ![]() 2 Additionally, the 2015 AUA census reported that of the 11,900 practicing urologists in the U.S., only 922 were female. 1 A 2015 report on physician compensation asked the question, “Which specialties have the most female physicians?” Not surprisingly, urology was at the bottom of the list with only 8% (Ob/Gyn & Women’s Health and Pediatrics were at the top with 50%). Urology has historically been a field dominated by male physicians.
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