Gender Roles In Surgery

Surgeons represent a subset of medicine specializing in the treatment of diseases and ailments by performing complex surgical procedures. They are often perceived as being the die-hard, risk taking front-runners of medicine and the development of new medical research and practices. Surgery itself, however, is predominately controlled by males. According to the Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine, females only represent “approximately thirty-three percent of all surgeons in the United States” (Freischlag). While establishing a gradually increasing presence over the centuries, women make up the noticeably lesser population of physicians in surgery today. The need for additional women surgeons is increasingly high because of the imperative role they play in nondiscriminatory medical advancement, high quality patient care, and because of the crucial diversity they contribute to the surgical workforce. The evolution of gender role expectations throughout the past recent centuries is the leading cause why surgery is dominated by males. In the 1960s, women transitioned from working solely in the household to entering the workforce. This triggered a national trend …show more content…
Males process less of oxytocin than females, making them less inclined to form substantial relationships (Jantz). In his research, psychiatrist Dr. Richard Blancher illustrates the importance of developing strong doctor-patient relationships to decrease the amount surgical complications and the period of time for post-operative recovery. Dr. Blancher’s theory on these relationship is extremely useful because it sheds insight on the issue that face men biologically when forming relationships due to the lack of oxytocin. Additional women surgeons are highly needed to counteract this imbalance to ensure that patient care is efficient and successful as possible