You Realize Women in Medicine Can be Doctors, Right?

You know those man on the street interviews featuring people walking around New York City? They're constantly on my TikTok feed, and often they're pretty entertaining. But once in a while, they infuriate me. Like, for example, when the interviewer speaks to a woman who happens to be a doctor and seems confused about the fact that women are physicians too.

In one video, a woman says she's a physician, to which the interviewer replies "physician assistant?". In another, a woman says she is an OB/GYN, to which the interviewer replies "you're a nurse?". The woman stands on business. "No," she replies. "I'm a doctor."

When we talk about the issues women face when navigating the world of healthcare, I think it's important to point out: They experience it both from the system and within the system. 

The women in these clips are far from the only female doctors whose accomplishments aren't fully seen. Every single female doctor I know reports that patients constantly ask to speak to "the doctor in charge", even when they're wearing their white coats, introducing themselves as "doctor so-and-so", and reiterating that they went to medical school are practicing attending physicians.

And let's get one thing clear: Physician assistants, nurses, and all other women in healthcare are just as amazing as the female doctors. This is not a knock on those professions. But we need to address the fact that people just don’t seem to realize that women in medicine aren’t always nurses; sometimes they’re doctors. This doesn’t just matter for those women who work in healthcare. It matters for all of us.

It’s not just about giving women their professional flowers. Improving outcomes for female patients involves making the healthcare field more welcoming to female practitioners. We need women to become doctors, and to be taken seriously and paid fairly as doctors.

After all, research indicates that patients treated by female physicians have better survival rates. And we don’t need research to know that as female patients, we often feel more seen and listened to by female physicians.

So consider this a PSA we shouldn’t have to put out: Female doctors exist. And we need to believe them and honor their qualifications.