Currently, about half of medical school matriculants are women. However, decades ago, the percentage of women entering medical school was in the single digits. This fact was true with my class starting in 1969, having fewer than ten women out of 132 total at the Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University.

 

The profoundly positive influence of women in all professions has been documented in many objective studies. Pertinent to medicine, do patient outcomes differ between those treated by male and female physicians? Two recent statistical studies have shown decreased mortality rates for hospitalized patients cared for by female physicians. 

 

“Comparison of Hospital Mortality and Readmission Rates for Medicare Patients Treated by Male vs Female Physicians,” published February 2017 in JAMA Internal Medicine, found “hospitalized Medicare beneficiaries treated by female physicians had significantly lower mortality rates (adjusted mortality rate, 11.07% vs 11.49%) and readmission rates (adjusted readmission rate, 15.02% vs 15.57%) compared with those cared for by male physicians within the same hospital.” This study is based on Medicare fee-for-service hospitalized beneficiaries 65 and older with a medical condition.

 

A literature search in the above article “has shown female physicians are more likely to adhere to clinical guidelines, provide preventive care more often, use patient-centered communication, perform as well or better on standardized tests, and provide more psychosocial counseling to their patients than do their male peers.”

  

A study based on hospitals in Toronto published in JAMA Health Forum in July 2021, entitled “Variations in Processes of Care and Outcomes for Hospitalized General Medicine Patients Treated by Female vs Male Physicians,” confirmed the findings. Additionally, female physicians in this review ordered more diagnostic radiology examinations.

 

The literature in this second study noted female physicians may spend more time reading electronic health records and prescribe certain medications with additional caution. Other older studies speculated women perceive clinical risks more highly and therefore may order more tests and request more referrals.

 

Physicians’ years of experience, regardless of gender, was independently associated with increased patient mortality. Perhaps physicians closer to their training are more up to date on clinical guidelines. As a patient, you want to improve your chances for a better outcome and avoid readmission if hospitalized. While these were some of the measures used to compare gender and age differences, patients may have other personal considerations.

 

Medical schools’ change in attitude, with a focus on competence rather than any other characteristic, has ultimately overcome gender bias. Patients’ care will improve as other biases are also recognized and successfully addressed.