Women and medicine: exploited as staff and as patients

Doctors and politicians have something in common. You might view their work as a performance. The best actors know how to stand, how to listen, and how to talk (doi:10.1136/bmj.q364).1 One difference, however, is that doctors have sworn a vow to act in the best interests of their patients. Modern politicians seem to have sworn a vow to act only in their own best interests. This clash of priorities is evident in the global collapse in public services. Why wouldn’t there, for example, be a concerted effort to resolve the childcare failures that are causing untold stress and deepening the health workforce crisis?The burden of childcare falls unequally on women, and previous reports have highlighted how parenthood disproportionately affects the careers of female doctors. In short, women are being differentially exploited in their attempts to balance work and life commitments. The cause of equity is further set back by the…
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