A new facet of women's quiet contribution to human welfare has come to light. The Havard T.H.Chan School of Public Health in the US has found out that patients under the care of women doctors heal better than those cared for by their male colleagues. The finding is the result of research carried out on more than a million patients, many of them seriously ill, who had been treated in different US hospitals between 2011 and 2014.
The size of the research undertaking was huge as 58,344 doctors were involved of which 18,751 were female physicians. Three things need to be noted at the outset if we are to fathom the importance of the public health research initiative: One, it was broad-based and representative given the number of patients and that of years they have been under the scanner; two, it was conducted on patients aged 65 and above implying a concern for cost-effective geriatric healthcare; and last but not least, it has been first- of- its- kind national study, a bit ironically in a research-crazy country like the US!
Now,what are the specific findings?The conclusions drawn from the study are as follows: Patients treated by female physicians are four per cent less likely to die within 30 days compared with those cared for by male doctors. Secondly, on discharge , they have five per cent lower risk of readmission to the hospital within 30 days. On the face of it, the benefits of female care may sound limited but if one were to calculate percentage-based total number of beneficiaries out of more than 1.0 million patients, it would work out impressively. Especially, if we extrapolate it country-wide.
The gender of the physicians is particularly significant for the 'sickest patients'. Basically,' the findings', it is told, 'indicate that potential differences in practice pattern between male and female physicians may have important clinical implications.'
In the US female doctors are one-third of the total physician work force. This deficit, if met substantially, could help save 32,000 lives a year-a number compared to the annual figure of deaths from motor vehicle accidents nationally.
In our very adverse doctor: patient ratio-3.5 physician per 10,000-we had begun with an added disadvantage in the number of female doctors. A serious handicap lay in the shortage of nurses. Over the years, however, doctors, nurses and dentists increased in numbers so that we can say today that there are 7.7 care givers per 10,000 of our population.
Our country's situation in terms of female medical education is becoming buoyant by each passing year. According to figures in 2014, female candidates were faring better than males in the admission tests. Thus, in 2013-14 session, 1602 female students enrolled in government medical colleges compared with 11,35 males.
With female students making up 60 per cent of medical enrolment, one could see why since 2011 more women graduates have been coming out of medical colleges than their male counterparts.
Whether by virtue of the research results disseminated by online journal of the American Medical Association the female doctors' access to promotion and better pay will radically improve, only time can tell.
At any rate, it does not take a gender expert to believe that women's equality can add $12 trillion to global growth.
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