Gender Bias in Healthcare

A few months ago, the New York Times published an article on a scandal in Tokyo University Medical School.  https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/03/world/asia/japan-medical-school-test-scores-women.html  It was found that administrators were purposely manipulating test scores of female applicants to keep their class 30% female. Of their applicants 8.8% of men were accepted and 2.9% of women were accepted. Apparently, it is commonly practiced in many medical schools across Japan. Administrators justified their practice with belief that women were more likely to drop out of their profession after marriage or childbirth which would not help with their national doctor shortage.

I was shocked especially since Prime Minister Abe was trying to promote his policy of “womenomics”, a policy to help the stagnant economy by increasing women in the workforce. I called my close friend who has been working in Japan for almost a year to ask her opinion on the current state. Sadly, she was not surprised by the news and explained to me in job interviews, a standard question for female applicants was their future plans on marriage and children. It is common practice in Japan for married women to quit their jobs to raise their children and difficult to re-enter the workforce after pregnancy.

I found it appalling that not only are institutions are raising the credentials higher for women, but also that their marital status plays a huge role in the job search. Why couldn’t these women have children and work at the same time? Why was there no social support for women with children? And why is there a nonexistent role for the father in child rearing?

This patriarchy reminded me of one my patients who made me question my abilities as a future provider. During my prerounds, my patient inquired if being doctor was the right decision for me. Instead, he could picture me as a great housewife. I was initially speechless. Thankfully, his nurse defended me, asking why I couldn’t be both? I answered his question by explaining to him that I could not imagine myself staying at home. After leaving his room, my feelings of inadequacy turned to annoyance and frustration. I didn’t know if his comment stemmed from my skills or from his gender biases.  My interaction with him made me wonder how many other patients I would encounter during my career who have a similar mindset.

                                                                                                                                                                Cindy Kui

                  DUCOM 2019