Women Are Changing the Face of Medicine

Summary of Article:

The number of women in Canadian medical schools have been growing steadily for the past 30 years.  In numbers, this has improved from 14.3% in 1968/1969, to an astonishing 57.7% today.  Although, while women have been responsbile for some significant changes in medicine in recent years, there are still very few women moving into medical executive positions in this country.  Dr. Noni MacDonald, the first woman to be named a dean of medicine in Canada, notes that at the moment that there is only one female dean of medicine among the country's 17 medical schools.  Currently, there is only one female dean, Dr. Catharine Whiteside at the University of Toronto.  "We seriously need to get more women in top positions, the upper management structure needs to be changed" says Macdonald.  "There's too much internal politics that is often not attrictive to women.  Women often just turn away.  I see it very much still as an oldy boys' club".  Dr. Cheryl Rowe, a community psychiatrist in Toronto, also feels this is an area that needs improvement.  "Women are not as well represented in academic positions, in leadership positions within the hospital.  There is recognition that women need to be offered more leadership positions and the Canadian Medical Association has a whole leadership stream of courses that they offer particularly to women".  Women have already bought many of their strengths to the field of medicine, says Macdonald.  These include better work-life balance for doctors, more doctors doing international aid work, the teaching of improved communication skills, and team initiatives.

My Opinion of Article:

I 100 percent agree with all of what Dr. Noni Macdonald and Dr. Cheryl Rowe had to say.  It is true that women have contributed a great deal to the medicine field and they should be recognized and rewarded for their accomplishments.  If you look back in the past, women didn't even have rights or a say in anything.  They weren't even considered human.  Throughout the years society has made great progress and has learned to accept everyone, not matter what gender, race, etc.  I think we need to look back and realize how women have changed our world.  They are just as equal as men and should definately have more top positions for them.  It is shocking that there is only one dean of medicine in Canada out of the 17 medical schools.  This number should be way higher.  Women put the same amount of hard work as men do and shouldn't be treated differently just because of their gender.  I am glad that the percent of  the number of women in medical schools has improved from 14.3% in 1968/1969, to an astonishing 57.7% today, but in order for women to get top positions, we need to remember and show them that they do have rights and do have respect.