Week Three: Sexism in the field

 So far it has been covered that bias against the patient exists and is very dangerous. However, there is also bias within the field itself. What contributes to unconscious bias within the field a good amount is sexism, and it can be seen even in events such as grand rounds. Sharonne N. Hayes, MD, did a study on how women were introduced versus men in the grand rounds at the Mayo clinic. When a man was introducing a speaker, there was only a 50:50 chance a woman would be introduced as a Doctor. However when a woman was introducing a speaker, nearly all used professional titles evenly. The American Society of Clinical Oncologists (ASCO) saw similar gender biases when men introduced women in ASCO's 2017 and 2018 meetings. In medicine, there are a lot more hurdles women have to jump over to gain respect, and this is a great example of this. Something as simple as not including earned titles indicates deeper levels of disrespect. This sexism is also partially a cause of a lack of female hires. Recommendation letters are very important for medical school admissions. In a study, researchers analyzed letters of recommendation for urology students. When men were writing a recommendation letter for male students, they used higher word counts and used references to awards more often, as well as using his name more. However, when men wrote recommendation letters for women, they used fewer words, had softer word choices, and often described physical appearance. When women were writing these letters, there was no difference between the letters of male and female students. This is very frustrating, as physical appearance should never be mentioned in letters of recommendation. When people are informed of their biases, they are likely to notice them more. If people are advised to monitor themselves for potential sexism while writing recommendation letters or introducing others it is likely that these differences will lessen.

Source: 

 Implicit Bias: Recognizing the Unconscious Barriers to Quality Care and Diversity in Medicine 

Jan 24, 2020  Cardiology Magazine