Gender and the pre-clinical experiences of female medical students: a taxonomy

Babaria, Palav; Bernheim, Susannah M.; Nuñez-Smith, Marcella

doi:10.1111/j.1365-2923.2010.03856.x

Cited by 43 publications

(40 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…This created for those female residents an especially toxic environment where sexism added to an insufficient culture of safety and error. The finding of perceived sexism in relation to errors aligns with other evidence supporting the persistence of gender-based discrimination in medicine [23-25]. …”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 86%

Female residents experiencing medical errors in general internal medicine: a qualitative study

2014

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BackgroundDoctors, especially doctors-in-training such as residents, make errors. They have to face the consequences even though today’s approach to errors emphasizes systemic factors. Doctors’ individual characteristics play a role in how medical errors are experienced and dealt with. The role of gender has previously been examined in a few quantitative studies that have yielded conflicting results. In the present study, we sought to qualitatively explore the experience of female residents with respect to medical errors. In particular, we explored the coping mechanisms displayed after an error. This study took place in the internal medicine department of a Swiss university hospital.MethodsWithin a phenomenological framework, semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight female residents in general internal medicine. All interviews were audiotaped, fully transcribed, and thereafter analyzed.ResultsSeven main themes emerged from the interviews: (1) A perception that there is an insufficient culture of safety and error; (2) The perceived main causes of errors, which included fatigue, work overload, inadequate level of competences in relation to assigned tasks, and dysfunctional communication; (3) Negative feelings in response to errors, which included different forms of psychological distress; (4) Variable attitudes of the hierarchy toward residents involved in an error; (5) Talking about the error, as the core coping mechanism; (6) Defensive and constructive attitudes toward one’s own errors; and (7) Gender-specific experiences in relation to errors. Such experiences consisted in (a) perceptions that male residents were more confident and therefore less affected by errors than their female counterparts and (b) perceptions that sexist attitudes among male supervisors can occur and worsen an already painful experience.ConclusionsThis study offers an in-depth account of how female residents specifically experience and cope with medical errors. Our interviews with female residents convey the sense that gender possibly influences the experience with errors, including the kind of coping mechanisms displayed. However, we acknowledge that the lack of a direct comparison between female and male participants represents a limitation while aiming to explore the role of gender.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 86%

Female residents experiencing medical errors in general internal medicine: a qualitative study

2014

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“…Female physicians report feeling a greater conflict between their work and home lives than do male physicians (e.g., Langballe et al 2011 in Norway; Pas et al 2011 in the Netherlands). And, female physicians and medical students report receiving less attention, support, and encouragement than their male peers, as well as experiencing sexual harassment and exposure to sexist jokes (e.g., Babaria et al 2011; see Riska 2011 for a review for North America and Western Europe).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

In Pursuit of the MD: The Impact of Role Models, Identity Compatibility, and Belonging Among Undergraduate Women

et al. 2013

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Women continue to face gender-related challenges in the medical field in places around the world where it has traditionally been male-dominated, including in the U.S. In an online experimental study with women attending a mid-sized public university in the Northeastern U.S. (N= 55) who were interested in pursuing a pre-medical track (being pre-med) as undergraduates, we explored the mechanisms involved in undergraduate women’s pursuit of a career as a physician, focusing on three factors: exposure to successful female physician role models, perceived identity compatibility between being a woman and being pre-med, and sense of belonging in pre-med. Participants were randomly assigned to an experimental condition in which they were exposed to information about successful female physicians, or to a control condition in which no information about female physicians was provided. First, as hypothesized, participants exposed to successful female physicians reported higher perceived identity compatibility, sense of belonging, and interest in a medical career compared to those in the control condition. Second, also as hypothesized, perceived identity compatibility mediated the effect of role models on sense of belonging, and sense of belonging mediated the relationship between perceived identity compatibility and interest in a medical career. This study highlights three key factors in women’s pursuit of a career as a physician and the process through which these factors may operate. Findings support the use of role models to set a positive psychosocial process in motion that can support women’s persistence in medicine.

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“…Babaria et al. 2 focus on hitherto under‐researched aspects of the hidden curriculum in the pre‐clinical years and discuss the pervading influence of gender on teacher and student behaviour in one North American medical school. Using a sample of female students that is reasonably diverse in terms of race or ethnicity, age, religion and marital and parental status, the authors begin to unravel some of the more subtle, gendered institutional and interactional practices at this medical school, including male tutors’ habit of avoiding eye contact with female students and the liberal use of the pronoun ‘he’ rather than ‘she’ when referring to a doctor.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In this commentary we aim to build on this important paper 2 by discussing the concept of intersectionality, which embraces the complexity of gender and identity formation. As we explore some important questions about intersectionality (What is it?…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%