pn (04/06/83)
by David Osborne
"Are women physicians improving the quality of health care in America?
Or is the socialization process so profound that by the time women are
practicing physicians, they are barely distinguishable from their male
colleagues? In my conversations and reading, I have found little consensus
on the question.
Certain research data does support a distinction, however. One fascinating
piece of evidence is the fact that women are sued for malpractice much less
frequently than men. Angela Holder, a counsel for medico-legal affairs and an
assistant clinical professor of pediatrics at Yale, has examined the matter in
some depth. An expert on malpractice, she has not found patients any more
hesitant to sue a woman if they feel they have been wronged. But she has found
a different attitude among women doctors toward their patients.
'Women physicians, because they are women, may, in fact, be more openly
caring with their patients than males,' she argues. 'Patients who think that
a doctor cares whether they live or die, get better or feel miserable, are
very reluctant to sue the physician if all does not go well. This has been
documented by many studies of malpractice.'"
Personally, I'd be pleased to find a doctor who only appeared to care,
instead of the kind who don't even bother to pretend.