GeorgiaJobWatch.com
Needed: More Female Cardiologists
(NewsUSA) - Despite nearly equal numbers of males and females graduating from medical schools, women account for less than 20 percent of all cardiologists, according to findings from a 10-year follow-up survey published in the Dec. 16-23, 2008, issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
Moreover, two-thirds of women continue to report discrimination, mostly due to competing demands of parenting and family responsibilities. With so many young women entering medical school, the healthcare community has expressed concern over their underrepresentation in certain specialties such as cardiology.
"Women in cardiology continue to face the same institutional and personal roadblocks as those in other areas of medicine and science," says Athena Poppas, M.D., F.A.C.C., associate professor of medicine, Brown University Medical School.
As more Americans live with chronic heart conditions, the need to ensure a stable and competent cardiology workforce, including the recruitment of women, has become increasingly urgent.
"One-third of Americans will have cardiovascular disease, so we must attract the best and the brightest -; and that includes women -; to keep up with demand and provide the highest level of patient care and research to help advance the field," says Dr. Poppas, who also serves as chair of the American College of Cardiology's Women in Cardiology Council, which commissioned the study. "We need to find ways to reduce discrimination, establish greater flexibility in work hours and expand opportunities for mentorship to better meet the needs of women and men as they plan their careers in cardiology."
The need for greater flexibility is no longer gender-specific; both male and female doctors are striving for a better work-life balance. In fact, a similar proportion of male and female cardiologists are working less than full-time (80 percent vs. 82 percent, respectively). This coincides with an overall trend toward more lifestyle-friendly areas of medicine, such as emergency departments, anesthesiology and radiology, which give doctors more control over their hours.
The current survey of 1,110 participants, a follow-up to the 1996 survey, aims to better understand the career and lifestyle needs of male and female cardiologists. For more information, visit www.acc.org.