This module aims to increase awareness of gender disparities in medicine. Upon completion, readers should be able to identify where these disparities occur and understand the factors that contribute to their persistence. By examining the historical roots of gender inequities in healthcare, this module seeks to inform efforts to address and reduce them. Mitigating bias has been shown to improve patient outcomes and strengthen community trust in the healthcare system.
Key Goals
Recognize the prevalence of gender disparities in medicine.
Understand how different practice patterns as well as patient and health professional characteristics may contribute to health inequities.
Learn about factors that contribute to the development and persistence of gender disparities in the healthcare environment.
Develop the knowledge, language, and skills to advocate for reduction of gender disparities in healthcare outcomes within your own practice.
This module is designed to examine how historical standards and experiences contribute to gender disparities in medicine. We explore the exclusion of women from clinical research, and how it has contributed to the gender data gap and adversely affected women’s health outcomes. We explore how concepts such as the “reference man” and “bikini medicine” have influenced the development of pharmaceutical therapies and evidence-based treatments, often to the detriment of women.
We also consider how the gender identities of both patients and healthcare professionals, along with workplace diversity, shape the delivery of equitable and effective care for all individuals. Finally, we emphasize practical communication strategies and clinical approaches to help reduce gender disparities in healthcare.
Key Objectives
Explore how the practice of excluding women from clinical research has contributed to the gender data gap and directly impacted health outcomes for women.
Understand how the concepts of the “reference man” and “bikini medicine” have impacted development of pharmaceutical therapies and evidence-based treatment strategies for women.
Discuss how the gender identity of patients and healthcare professionals, as well as diversity within the healthcare workplace, can impact delivery of effective, timely, equitable healthcare for both men and women, cisgender and transgender.
Recognize and consider implementing communication strategies and clinical practice patterns to help reduce gender disparities in care.
The following resources serve as the core materials for this module, ranging from scoping reviews to practical management guides:
Objective 1: The Data Gap
Objective 2: Dismissed & Misdiagnosed
Objective 3: Lost in Translation
Objective 4: Does Your Doctor's Gender Matter? — Communication, Concordance, and Care Outcomes
Designed for personal journaling or pre-meeting preparation.
Baseline Assessment
Personal Impact & Professional Growth
Designed for RAFT meetings, subdivided by module objectives.
General Discussion Questions:
In your own experience as a patient, have you noticed certain practices, whether from male or female healthcare professionals, which made you feel more listened to or more likely to continue engaging with that healthcare system? Reflect on these experiences.
Reflect on your own practice patterns and institutional policies. Are there areas in which you could plan to implement more evidence-based practices through sex and gender based medicine?
Consider the gender inequities in pay and leadership representation within the context of this module – how do we still have a system in which women are undercompensated despite evidence that suggests female healthcare professionals have better patient outcomes than male healthcare professionals? How can we advocate for institutional and organizational changes to reduce these inequities?
Objective 1: Women & The History of Medical Research
Objective 2: Historical Influences on Treatment Strategies
Objective 3: Gender Concordance & Health Outcomes
Objective 4: Strategies to Reduce Gender Disparities in Care
Dig Deepr:
Explore the NIH Office of Research on Women’s Health Website to learn more about topics such as telescoping, a phenomenon in which women are more likely to experience addiction to pain medications and alcohol at lower doses than men, as well as other ongoing research on women’s health.
Consider participating in this online NIH Course to explore a systems-based approach to sex and gender differences in pathology. Discuss the anatomic and physiologic differences between treating female and male patients with colleagues to refine your knowledge and apply these principles to your own practice.
Engage further in the conversation around Sex and Gender Based Medicine through the Sex and Gender Health Collaborative and Dr. Jeaannette Wolfe’s website, which provides resources to integrate sex and gender knowledge into medical education and practice.