Gender’s Impact in Medicine and Healthcare

This article was exclusively written for The European Sting by Ms. Leonor Borges, a 5th year medical student in the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto. She is affiliated with the International Federation of Medical Students Associations (IFMSA), cordial partner of The Sting. The opinions expressed in this piece belong strictly to the writer and do not necessarily reflect IFMSA’s view on the topic, nor The European Sting’s one.

As women become an overpowering majority in medical schools across the globe, and, consequently, the medical profession, we must inquire how this has not translated into representation on leadership roles. In pondering this question, we must take into account historical oppression of women in decision making positions, as well as in education and academia as a whole. Only through attentive analysis and highlighting of women’s perspectives can we develop strategies to promote their empowerment.

Having only recently conquered their spaces in education and universities, women are still fighting for a place and accommodation within the workforce. Transversal issues such as maternity and paternity leave or the gender pay gap, having not been settled in an equitative manner, have gone to further and justify the gatekeeping of high-standing positions to women.

Furthermore, the value placed on the very medical profession varies culturally, vastly reliant on the emphasis placed on it being a care-oriented or intellectually-driven profession, respectively associated with it being a female or male presenting one. Not only does this impact the profession as a whole, it has repercussions on the importance placed on healthcare in designing country-wide strategies or governmental budgets, thus affecting population healthcare and the status of Universal Health Coverage. Therefore, gender roles and gendered professions go on to impact the value socially placed upon them and, with such, the quality of care provided to patients.

As we move into a progressively more globalized future, we cannot dissociate one country’s or one population’s health from all others. As the Covid-19 pandemic has recently proven, healthcare can only be fully comprehended and tackled through a multicultural, empathetic and inclusive lens. However, it has also become proof of the long path needed to trail as we strive for equitable access to healthcare to all people, regardless of own or countries socio-economic status. This idyllic future will require not only transnational collaboration but erasure of all forms of discrimination, including gender-based one.

Student and youth engagement proves itself a necessary weapon in contrary to this tendency, not only working towards the empowerment of female medical students through providing parity within their very organizations, but also with cementing their respective works on the concepts of One Health and non-discrimination. However, it is only through the empowerment of all women, in all spheres of life, and regarding overlapping discrimination, that we can hope to mitigate challenges posed to global health. 

About the author

Leonor is a 5th year medical student in the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto. Given her particular interest in the provision of equity in the medical field and healthcare in general, she currently plays a role as National Officer on Human Rights and Peace for ANEM-Portugal.