Women in Medicine – Does it Matter to Patients?

My latest road trip this past weekend took me North. I was at the beautiful Riddel Hall at Queen’s University Belfast for Women in Medicine in Ireland Network (WiMIN) meeting. While it was wonderful and thought-provoking meeting – and a chance to meet up with some seriously mná-some colleagues – it’s not just all about saying how great we are. What do meetings like this mean for patients?

Meetings like this a good forum to discuss issues that impact physicians – and their patients. Ongoing issues such as burnout and doctor shortage have a direct impact on the quality of patient care. As the number of doctors who are women in Ireland approach 50%, you think that we would no longer be talking about harassment, misogyny or pay difference in the work place – but we still are.

And things such as lack of maternity leave or lack of work-life balance can be a real reason that Irish doctors emigrate – causing both a shortage of expertise and increasing wait lists. .