{"id":21044,"date":"2019-10-15T04:33:47","date_gmt":"2019-10-15T09:33:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/feminem.org\/?p=21044"},"modified":"2019-10-16T19:34:13","modified_gmt":"2019-10-17T00:34:13","slug":"why-are-female-doctors-called-dr-mrs-in-sri-lanka","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/feminem.org\/2019\/10\/15\/why-are-female-doctors-called-dr-mrs-in-sri-lanka\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Are female Doctors Called \u201cDr. (Mrs)\u201d in Sri Lanka?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><em>This is the third blog post of our FemInEM Forward series, featuring blog submissions from the The FIX19 International Attendee Scholarship. The post below is written by Dr. Kaushila Thilakasiri, a registrar in Emergency Medicine in Sri Lanka. She is a visiting lecturer at multiple diploma programs and is involved in teaching at various local acute care and emergency medicine training programs. She is interested in medical education and resuscitation.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A brief account on gender inequity relevant to female emergency medicine physicians in Sri Lanka:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Emergency medicine (EM) is a brand-new specialty in Sri Lanka with the current EM training program starting in 2013 and the first ever EM consultants graduating in 2019. Even after six years, 60% of the EM trainees are still male. As one of the first female trainees in EM in the history of Sri Lanka, I have endured many challenges along the way and have been told by both men and women from the time I decided to pursue emergency medicine that it would be best done by a male and that it is a man\u2019s job.&nbsp; There are only a few other female trainees in EM and no core EM faculty let alone female EM physician role models.  Within this context, a particular challenge has been gender inequity.  As I progress in my training in the new specialty of EM in Sri Lanka, I gradually noticed how prevalent gender inequity is and how I am experiencing gender inequity more now than ever before in my life.  Despite this, there are no pay gaps among doctors based of the same grade irrespective of workplace and gender.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>An example of gender inequity that has been incredibly personal for me relates to the professional title of female physicians.&nbsp; Female physicians are expected to express both their marital status and gender when listing their professional title in Sri Lanka.&nbsp; For example, I must specify my written professional title as \u201cDr. (Mrs.) Kaushila Thilakasiri\u201d. Why is this? Indicating one\u2019s marital status next to your title as a female physician is considered to be \u2018respectful\u2019.&nbsp; Male physicians are able to share their professional title alone implying that Dr. associates with a \u2018male\u2019 title because men do not need to say \u201cDr. (Mr)\u201d.  In fact, my attempts to use only the title \u201cDr.\u201d have led to me being mistaken for a male with adverse consequences in both patient care and my career.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This issue with the acceptable professional title for female physicians suggests that the strong patriarchy in Sri Lankan society has infiltrated medicine in a definite way.&nbsp; By exploring the answer to this simple question, I came to realize how unaware most Sri Lankans are with respect to gender inequity, how female physicians silently bare this injustice, and what happens if one tries to change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Within the ED, it is the norm for female EM physicians to be mistaken for nurses especially when scrubs are worn.&nbsp; With respect to patient care interactions, my male colleagues are always called \u201cDoctor\u201d but I am referred to as \u201cMiss\u201d by patients because, culturally, women may not have earned the title of \u201cDoctor\u201d and \u201cMiss\u201d has sufficed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As the director of training and development of St. John Ambulance Sri Lanka, I am the first ever female in that position of a 100-year-old organization.&nbsp; The board is all male except me, and its meetings are incredibly challenging.  Once, I was humiliated for not declaring my marital status in association with my professional title and was accused to have hidden it deliberately. When I answer calls from EMTs in our ambulance service, they automatically start the conversation assuming that I am a male and never apologies as it is an accepted mistake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If being a physician is still considered a man\u2019s job in Sri Lankan society and medicine, how will female emergency physicians provide emergency care without discrimination?&nbsp; If my simple use of title is challenged so much, one can only imagine how my viewpoints as an EM specialist would be challenged.  As a female EM registrar, I have the extra burden to defend my gender in addition to defending this brand-new specialty.&nbsp; People fear what they don\u2019t know.  A female EM trainee in Sri Lanka is two unknown things altogether!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One might say the issue of titles is not worth the fight, but words matter.&nbsp; It highlights the fact that female physicians are treated inferiorly in our society, which limits achieving the full career potential of a female EM physician, ultimately leading to diminished opportunities for patient care and national development.&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This is the third blog post of our FemInEM Forward series, featuring blog submissions from the The FIX19 International Attendee Scholarship. The post below is written by Dr. Kaushila Thilakasiri, a registrar in Emergency Medicine in Sri Lanka. 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