From calling to a scheduled vocation: Swedish male and female students’ reflections on being a doctor

Abstract

Background: All over the world an increasing number of women are entering medical schools. Soon women will constitute half of the physician workforce in Scandinavia. However, specialty segregation persists. Reports have shown different motives among male and female doctors to be, but the impact of gender, i.e. how ongoing social constructions of femininity and masculinity influence the development of professionalism, is not fully described. Aim: The purpose of this study was to explore views and visions among second-year students at a Swedish Medical School, and to identify challenges for education and workforce planning. Methods: After receiving research ethics board approval, all students participating in the course 'Professional development', including a task to write a free-text essay on the theme 'to be a doctor', were invited to share their essays for analysis. Of 138 (40% men) students in 2002, 104 (39% men) accepted. The texts were analysed according to grounded theory. Results: Students held 'doctorship' to be an outstanding profession of commitment, authority and duty. Fears were exposed, especially among women, regarding how to fit demands of self-sacrifices and balancing a private life. Belonging to a new generation, they conceived gender equity as self-evident. Actual working conditions were met with disapproval, as did an allembracing calling. A scheduled vocation was hoped for. They relied on the mass of women to implement change. Women's 'other' values, alluding to family orientation, were expected to alter working conditions and also give men more leisure time. Despite equity conviction, segregating gender patterns in students' representations, interactions with tutors and future prospects were disclosed. Conclusions: Students' arguments raise challenges for medical educators and planners regarding professional values, medical socialization and specialty recruitment. The new generation requires a renewed Hippocratic Oath, gender-aware role models and practice sites. Swedish students' arguments are compared with current international literature.

Few gender differences in specialty preferences and motivational factors: a cross-sectional Swedish study on last-year medical students

“…Thus, even if Sweden has relatively strong parental leave and childcare provisions, there are still differences in how male and female future physicians plan their careers. In concert with our results, it has been shown before how Swedish medical students receive gendered advice; men were encouraged to stick to what they aspired for and to let family interests come second whereas women were advised to choose a family-friendly specialty [33]. In sum, even if male and female students have similar specialty preferences, it was mainly women and especially those opting for family medicine that planned for work-family balance.…”

“…This finding is supported by a Swedish study where male and female students described how their reception among colleagues was important when making their career choices [33]. Also, an American study found that the reason for more men choosing surgery could not be explained by the women being deterred from surgery during their clinical rotations but rather that they received more support elsewhere [1].…”

“…This also means that the female students realize that more working hours mean less time for the family. Earlier research showed that female medical students and physicians were more ready than their male peers to compromise career aspirations for family life [17,22,32,33]. Thus, even if Sweden has relatively strong parental leave and childcare provisions, there are still differences in how male and female future physicians plan their careers.…”

A study to assess the perceptions of first year medical students for choosing medical school as a career

“…29,30 In the present study as shown in Table 3, the various reasons for choosing medical school as a career in which 50 (31.44%) choose by their own choice. In the present study it was seen that 29 (27.88%) of the students felt that the work load was too hard as shown in Table 4.…”

From gender bias to gender awareness in medical education

“…Additionally, men nurses face contradictory and complex situations of acceptance, mainly because the stereotype of men as sexual aggressors creates suspicion in situations where there is intimate touching (Evans 2002). Furthermore, gender plays a role in specialty choice (Reichenbach and Brown 2004;Johansson and Hamberg 2007).…”