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The gender gap exists for women in pulmonary medicine. According to the Medscape Pulmonologist Compensation Report 2017, women pulmonologists earned 23% less than their male counterparts even though:
- 2% of women pulmonologists work part time vs 8% of men;
- more women (66%) than men (48%) reported seeking promotion. (Grisham, 2017)
If we take a look at a recent report done by Doximity that analyzed responses on more than 65,000 licensed US doctors across the country, the report reveals that the gap between female and male physicians across the nation, women on average make about $91,000 less annually (Doximity, 2018).
Despite ever-growing enrollment rates for women in medical schools, female physicians are often underrepresented in academic and research settings. According to a study published in the Journal of National Medical Association, “between 80 and 90 percent of leadership roles in medicine, like medical school deans, are filled by men.” (Morton & Sonnad, 2007)
These astounding gaps do not stop at the clinician’s door. This gender inequality is evident in the women who are receiving medical treatment, as well. There are two major issues that exist for women seeking treatment:
1. Not being taken as seriously as male patients:
- Women are more likely to be prescribed sedatives for their pain, and men are more likely to be prescribed pain medication. (L. Calderone, 1990)
- Women are more likely to be treated less aggressively in their initial encounters with the health-care system until they prove that they are as sick as male patients with similar symptoms. (Hoffmann & Tarzian, 2001)
- Nationwide, men wait an average of 49 minutes before receiving an analgesic for acute abdominal pain. Women wait an average of 65 minutes for the same thing. (Chen, et al., 2008)
- Multiple studies have shown that female patients’ symptoms are less likely to be taken seriously by doctors, and women are more likely to be misdiagnosed, have their symptoms go unrecognized, or be told what they’re experiencing is psychosomatic. (Hoffmann & Tarzian, 2001) (Carnlöf, Iwarzon, Jensen-Urstad, Gadler, & Insulander, 2017)
2. Being diagnosed and treated the same as male patients
- Up until 1993 when the National Institutes of Health Revitalization Act mandated that all women and minorities be included in clinical trials funded by the NIH, the guidelines and diagnosis for treatment have historically been based off the archetypal patient: a 154-pound white male. Because of this, women are often misdiagnosed or receive treatments that are ineffective or potentially harmful to their health. Even still, researchers frequently do not enroll an adequate number of women or fail to analyze or report data separately by sex. (MHC Center, 2014)
- Women and men metabolize drugs differently, yet dosages are rarely broken down by sex. Women also experience different side effects and derive different benefits from the same treatments. (Soldin & Mattison, 2009)
- Female patients have a 1.5 to 1.7 times higher chance of having an adverse drug reaction. (Rademaker, 2001)
- There are many diseases and conditions that are alarmingly more prevalent among women. Nonsmoking women are three times more likely to get lung cancer than nonsmoking men, according to a comprehensive 2014 report by Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, called “Women’s Health Can’t Wait.” (MHC Center, 2014)
“While the number of women participating in lung cancer clinical trials has risen, women—particularly those from racial and ethnic minorities—are still less likely to enroll in these trials than men. Even when studies include women, researchers often fail to analyze data by sex or include hormone status or other gender-specific factors, making it difficult to uncover differences in incidence, prevalence, and survivability between men and women and to replicate the studies.” (MHC Center, 2014)In the pulmonary space, there is growing evidence that a number of pulmonary diseases affect women differently and with a greater degree of severity than men. Respiratory conditions that impact women nearly exclusively include pulmonary hypertension, catamenial diseases, and pregnancy-associated asthma exacerbation. (Pinkerton, et al., 2015) According to the CDC, cancer is the number one cause of death for women ages 35-64, and the number one cancer killer in women is lung cancer. Women have been taught to care and take notice of the symptoms of breast cancer, HPV, ovarian cancer, and other “women’s diseases,” and, yet, more women die every day from lung cancer than from breast, ovarian, and uterine cancers combined.
Why CHEST?
Now, why does this matter to us at CHEST? What can we do about it? How do we begin to tackle such a large issue that permeates nearly every facet of society?
CHEST is in a unique position to not only address the professional development needs of our female membership, but with the help and leadership of the CHEST Foundation and a new partnership with HealthyWomen, we are poised to address the gaps in education for our clinicians, patients, and the public.
To address these needs, the Women in Pulmonary program was created. Women in Pulmonary started as a yearly luncheon and has expanded into a yearlong program that will work to fill these gaps by not only elevating the wants and needs of women in pulmonary medicine, but also by bringing awareness to clinicians, patients, and the public on diseases that are not typically considered “women’s issues.”
CHEST and HealthyWomen are working to provide education, in the form of free webinars, multimedia resources, and live events to achieve the following outcomes:
Women in Pulmonary Medicine: CHEST and HealthyWomen aim to create the tools and educational opportunities that will empower our female clinicians to elevate their voices and become advocates for their career advancement, as well as improved diagnosis and treatment of women with pulmonary diseases.
Patients, Caregivers, and the Public: With this initiative, CHEST and HealthyWomen strive to empower women with the knowledge they need to become champions of their lung health. We will provide them with talking points, questions and awareness of symptoms of pulmonary conditions and diseases, such as: lung cancer, ILD/IPF, COPD, pulmonary hypertension, and asthma so that they are better able to go to their doctor appointments ready to advocate for the care they need.
Clinicians: CHEST and HealthyWomen will aim to equip all clinicians, not just women, with exposure and education that address gender differences in treatment and diagnosis of diseases like lung cancer, asthma, COPD, PH, and ILD/IPF.
Women in Pulmonary aims to provide essential education to every clinician treating women, promote awareness among patients and the public on key information to improve conversations with their health-care providers, and create opportunities for women in chest medicine to advance their careers through professional development, engagement, networking, and mentorship connections. This program will be one step in the direction of changing how women are viewed in medicine and how diseases are perceived across genders.
Bibliography
Calderone K. The influence of gender on the frequency of pain and sedative medication administered to postoperative patients. Sex Roles. 1990;23(11-12): 713-725.
Carnlöf C, et al. Women with PSVY are often misdiagnosed, referred later than men, and have more symptoms after ablation. Scand Cardiovasc J. 2017; 51(6): 299-307.
Chen EH, et al. Gender disparity in analgesic treatment of emergency departmetn patietns with acute abdominal pain. Acad Emerg Med. 2008;15(5):414-418.
Doximity. 2018 Physician Compensation Report. Doximity.
Grisham S. Medscape Pulmonologist Compensation Report 2017. https://www.medscape.com/slideshow/compensation-2017-pulmonary-medicine-6008586. Accessed Jan 16, 2018.
Hoffmann DE, Tarzian AJ. The girl who cried pain: a bias against women in the treatment of pain. J Law Med Ethics. 2001;29(1):13-27.
MHC Center. Sex-Specific Medical Research: Why Women’s Health Can’t Wait. Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Mary Horrigan Connors Center for Women’s Health & Gender Biology. Brigham and Women’s Hospital;2014.
Morton MJ, Sonnad SS. Women on professional society and journal editorial boards. J National Med Assoc. 2007;99(7):764-771.
Pinkerton K, et al. Women and lung disease. sex differences and global health disparities. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2015;192(1):11-16.
Rademaker M. (2001). Do women have more adverse drug reactions? Am J Clin Dermatol. 2001;2(6): 349-351.
Soldin O, Mattison M. Sex differences in pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics. Clin Pharmacokinetics. 2009;48(3):143-157.
The gender gap exists for women in pulmonary medicine. According to the Medscape Pulmonologist Compensation Report 2017, women pulmonologists earned 23% less than their male counterparts even though:
- 2% of women pulmonologists work part time vs 8% of men;
- more women (66%) than men (48%) reported seeking promotion. (Grisham, 2017)
If we take a look at a recent report done by Doximity that analyzed responses on more than 65,000 licensed US doctors across the country, the report reveals that the gap between female and male physicians across the nation, women on average make about $91,000 less annually (Doximity, 2018).
Despite ever-growing enrollment rates for women in medical schools, female physicians are often underrepresented in academic and research settings. According to a study published in the Journal of National Medical Association, “between 80 and 90 percent of leadership roles in medicine, like medical school deans, are filled by men.” (Morton & Sonnad, 2007)
These astounding gaps do not stop at the clinician’s door. This gender inequality is evident in the women who are receiving medical treatment, as well. There are two major issues that exist for women seeking treatment:
1. Not being taken as seriously as male patients:
- Women are more likely to be prescribed sedatives for their pain, and men are more likely to be prescribed pain medication. (L. Calderone, 1990)
- Women are more likely to be treated less aggressively in their initial encounters with the health-care system until they prove that they are as sick as male patients with similar symptoms. (Hoffmann & Tarzian, 2001)
- Nationwide, men wait an average of 49 minutes before receiving an analgesic for acute abdominal pain. Women wait an average of 65 minutes for the same thing. (Chen, et al., 2008)
- Multiple studies have shown that female patients’ symptoms are less likely to be taken seriously by doctors, and women are more likely to be misdiagnosed, have their symptoms go unrecognized, or be told what they’re experiencing is psychosomatic. (Hoffmann & Tarzian, 2001) (Carnlöf, Iwarzon, Jensen-Urstad, Gadler, & Insulander, 2017)
2. Being diagnosed and treated the same as male patients
- Up until 1993 when the National Institutes of Health Revitalization Act mandated that all women and minorities be included in clinical trials funded by the NIH, the guidelines and diagnosis for treatment have historically been based off the archetypal patient: a 154-pound white male. Because of this, women are often misdiagnosed or receive treatments that are ineffective or potentially harmful to their health. Even still, researchers frequently do not enroll an adequate number of women or fail to analyze or report data separately by sex. (MHC Center, 2014)
- Women and men metabolize drugs differently, yet dosages are rarely broken down by sex. Women also experience different side effects and derive different benefits from the same treatments. (Soldin & Mattison, 2009)
- Female patients have a 1.5 to 1.7 times higher chance of having an adverse drug reaction. (Rademaker, 2001)
- There are many diseases and conditions that are alarmingly more prevalent among women. Nonsmoking women are three times more likely to get lung cancer than nonsmoking men, according to a comprehensive 2014 report by Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, called “Women’s Health Can’t Wait.” (MHC Center, 2014)
“While the number of women participating in lung cancer clinical trials has risen, women—particularly those from racial and ethnic minorities—are still less likely to enroll in these trials than men. Even when studies include women, researchers often fail to analyze data by sex or include hormone status or other gender-specific factors, making it difficult to uncover differences in incidence, prevalence, and survivability between men and women and to replicate the studies.” (MHC Center, 2014)In the pulmonary space, there is growing evidence that a number of pulmonary diseases affect women differently and with a greater degree of severity than men. Respiratory conditions that impact women nearly exclusively include pulmonary hypertension, catamenial diseases, and pregnancy-associated asthma exacerbation. (Pinkerton, et al., 2015) According to the CDC, cancer is the number one cause of death for women ages 35-64, and the number one cancer killer in women is lung cancer. Women have been taught to care and take notice of the symptoms of breast cancer, HPV, ovarian cancer, and other “women’s diseases,” and, yet, more women die every day from lung cancer than from breast, ovarian, and uterine cancers combined.
Why CHEST?
Now, why does this matter to us at CHEST? What can we do about it? How do we begin to tackle such a large issue that permeates nearly every facet of society?
CHEST is in a unique position to not only address the professional development needs of our female membership, but with the help and leadership of the CHEST Foundation and a new partnership with HealthyWomen, we are poised to address the gaps in education for our clinicians, patients, and the public.
To address these needs, the Women in Pulmonary program was created. Women in Pulmonary started as a yearly luncheon and has expanded into a yearlong program that will work to fill these gaps by not only elevating the wants and needs of women in pulmonary medicine, but also by bringing awareness to clinicians, patients, and the public on diseases that are not typically considered “women’s issues.”
CHEST and HealthyWomen are working to provide education, in the form of free webinars, multimedia resources, and live events to achieve the following outcomes:
Women in Pulmonary Medicine: CHEST and HealthyWomen aim to create the tools and educational opportunities that will empower our female clinicians to elevate their voices and become advocates for their career advancement, as well as improved diagnosis and treatment of women with pulmonary diseases.
Patients, Caregivers, and the Public: With this initiative, CHEST and HealthyWomen strive to empower women with the knowledge they need to become champions of their lung health. We will provide them with talking points, questions and awareness of symptoms of pulmonary conditions and diseases, such as: lung cancer, ILD/IPF, COPD, pulmonary hypertension, and asthma so that they are better able to go to their doctor appointments ready to advocate for the care they need.
Clinicians: CHEST and HealthyWomen will aim to equip all clinicians, not just women, with exposure and education that address gender differences in treatment and diagnosis of diseases like lung cancer, asthma, COPD, PH, and ILD/IPF.
Women in Pulmonary aims to provide essential education to every clinician treating women, promote awareness among patients and the public on key information to improve conversations with their health-care providers, and create opportunities for women in chest medicine to advance their careers through professional development, engagement, networking, and mentorship connections. This program will be one step in the direction of changing how women are viewed in medicine and how diseases are perceived across genders.
Bibliography
Calderone K. The influence of gender on the frequency of pain and sedative medication administered to postoperative patients. Sex Roles. 1990;23(11-12): 713-725.
Carnlöf C, et al. Women with PSVY are often misdiagnosed, referred later than men, and have more symptoms after ablation. Scand Cardiovasc J. 2017; 51(6): 299-307.
Chen EH, et al. Gender disparity in analgesic treatment of emergency departmetn patietns with acute abdominal pain. Acad Emerg Med. 2008;15(5):414-418.
Doximity. 2018 Physician Compensation Report. Doximity.
Grisham S. Medscape Pulmonologist Compensation Report 2017. https://www.medscape.com/slideshow/compensation-2017-pulmonary-medicine-6008586. Accessed Jan 16, 2018.
Hoffmann DE, Tarzian AJ. The girl who cried pain: a bias against women in the treatment of pain. J Law Med Ethics. 2001;29(1):13-27.
MHC Center. Sex-Specific Medical Research: Why Women’s Health Can’t Wait. Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Mary Horrigan Connors Center for Women’s Health & Gender Biology. Brigham and Women’s Hospital;2014.
Morton MJ, Sonnad SS. Women on professional society and journal editorial boards. J National Med Assoc. 2007;99(7):764-771.
Pinkerton K, et al. Women and lung disease. sex differences and global health disparities. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2015;192(1):11-16.
Rademaker M. (2001). Do women have more adverse drug reactions? Am J Clin Dermatol. 2001;2(6): 349-351.
Soldin O, Mattison M. Sex differences in pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics. Clin Pharmacokinetics. 2009;48(3):143-157.
The gender gap exists for women in pulmonary medicine. According to the Medscape Pulmonologist Compensation Report 2017, women pulmonologists earned 23% less than their male counterparts even though:
- 2% of women pulmonologists work part time vs 8% of men;
- more women (66%) than men (48%) reported seeking promotion. (Grisham, 2017)
If we take a look at a recent report done by Doximity that analyzed responses on more than 65,000 licensed US doctors across the country, the report reveals that the gap between female and male physicians across the nation, women on average make about $91,000 less annually (Doximity, 2018).
Despite ever-growing enrollment rates for women in medical schools, female physicians are often underrepresented in academic and research settings. According to a study published in the Journal of National Medical Association, “between 80 and 90 percent of leadership roles in medicine, like medical school deans, are filled by men.” (Morton & Sonnad, 2007)
These astounding gaps do not stop at the clinician’s door. This gender inequality is evident in the women who are receiving medical treatment, as well. There are two major issues that exist for women seeking treatment:
1. Not being taken as seriously as male patients:
- Women are more likely to be prescribed sedatives for their pain, and men are more likely to be prescribed pain medication. (L. Calderone, 1990)
- Women are more likely to be treated less aggressively in their initial encounters with the health-care system until they prove that they are as sick as male patients with similar symptoms. (Hoffmann & Tarzian, 2001)
- Nationwide, men wait an average of 49 minutes before receiving an analgesic for acute abdominal pain. Women wait an average of 65 minutes for the same thing. (Chen, et al., 2008)
- Multiple studies have shown that female patients’ symptoms are less likely to be taken seriously by doctors, and women are more likely to be misdiagnosed, have their symptoms go unrecognized, or be told what they’re experiencing is psychosomatic. (Hoffmann & Tarzian, 2001) (Carnlöf, Iwarzon, Jensen-Urstad, Gadler, & Insulander, 2017)
2. Being diagnosed and treated the same as male patients
- Up until 1993 when the National Institutes of Health Revitalization Act mandated that all women and minorities be included in clinical trials funded by the NIH, the guidelines and diagnosis for treatment have historically been based off the archetypal patient: a 154-pound white male. Because of this, women are often misdiagnosed or receive treatments that are ineffective or potentially harmful to their health. Even still, researchers frequently do not enroll an adequate number of women or fail to analyze or report data separately by sex. (MHC Center, 2014)
- Women and men metabolize drugs differently, yet dosages are rarely broken down by sex. Women also experience different side effects and derive different benefits from the same treatments. (Soldin & Mattison, 2009)
- Female patients have a 1.5 to 1.7 times higher chance of having an adverse drug reaction. (Rademaker, 2001)
- There are many diseases and conditions that are alarmingly more prevalent among women. Nonsmoking women are three times more likely to get lung cancer than nonsmoking men, according to a comprehensive 2014 report by Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, called “Women’s Health Can’t Wait.” (MHC Center, 2014)
“While the number of women participating in lung cancer clinical trials has risen, women—particularly those from racial and ethnic minorities—are still less likely to enroll in these trials than men. Even when studies include women, researchers often fail to analyze data by sex or include hormone status or other gender-specific factors, making it difficult to uncover differences in incidence, prevalence, and survivability between men and women and to replicate the studies.” (MHC Center, 2014)In the pulmonary space, there is growing evidence that a number of pulmonary diseases affect women differently and with a greater degree of severity than men. Respiratory conditions that impact women nearly exclusively include pulmonary hypertension, catamenial diseases, and pregnancy-associated asthma exacerbation. (Pinkerton, et al., 2015) According to the CDC, cancer is the number one cause of death for women ages 35-64, and the number one cancer killer in women is lung cancer. Women have been taught to care and take notice of the symptoms of breast cancer, HPV, ovarian cancer, and other “women’s diseases,” and, yet, more women die every day from lung cancer than from breast, ovarian, and uterine cancers combined.
Why CHEST?
Now, why does this matter to us at CHEST? What can we do about it? How do we begin to tackle such a large issue that permeates nearly every facet of society?
CHEST is in a unique position to not only address the professional development needs of our female membership, but with the help and leadership of the CHEST Foundation and a new partnership with HealthyWomen, we are poised to address the gaps in education for our clinicians, patients, and the public.
To address these needs, the Women in Pulmonary program was created. Women in Pulmonary started as a yearly luncheon and has expanded into a yearlong program that will work to fill these gaps by not only elevating the wants and needs of women in pulmonary medicine, but also by bringing awareness to clinicians, patients, and the public on diseases that are not typically considered “women’s issues.”
CHEST and HealthyWomen are working to provide education, in the form of free webinars, multimedia resources, and live events to achieve the following outcomes:
Women in Pulmonary Medicine: CHEST and HealthyWomen aim to create the tools and educational opportunities that will empower our female clinicians to elevate their voices and become advocates for their career advancement, as well as improved diagnosis and treatment of women with pulmonary diseases.
Patients, Caregivers, and the Public: With this initiative, CHEST and HealthyWomen strive to empower women with the knowledge they need to become champions of their lung health. We will provide them with talking points, questions and awareness of symptoms of pulmonary conditions and diseases, such as: lung cancer, ILD/IPF, COPD, pulmonary hypertension, and asthma so that they are better able to go to their doctor appointments ready to advocate for the care they need.
Clinicians: CHEST and HealthyWomen will aim to equip all clinicians, not just women, with exposure and education that address gender differences in treatment and diagnosis of diseases like lung cancer, asthma, COPD, PH, and ILD/IPF.
Women in Pulmonary aims to provide essential education to every clinician treating women, promote awareness among patients and the public on key information to improve conversations with their health-care providers, and create opportunities for women in chest medicine to advance their careers through professional development, engagement, networking, and mentorship connections. This program will be one step in the direction of changing how women are viewed in medicine and how diseases are perceived across genders.
Bibliography
Calderone K. The influence of gender on the frequency of pain and sedative medication administered to postoperative patients. Sex Roles. 1990;23(11-12): 713-725.
Carnlöf C, et al. Women with PSVY are often misdiagnosed, referred later than men, and have more symptoms after ablation. Scand Cardiovasc J. 2017; 51(6): 299-307.
Chen EH, et al. Gender disparity in analgesic treatment of emergency departmetn patietns with acute abdominal pain. Acad Emerg Med. 2008;15(5):414-418.
Doximity. 2018 Physician Compensation Report. Doximity.
Grisham S. Medscape Pulmonologist Compensation Report 2017. https://www.medscape.com/slideshow/compensation-2017-pulmonary-medicine-6008586. Accessed Jan 16, 2018.
Hoffmann DE, Tarzian AJ. The girl who cried pain: a bias against women in the treatment of pain. J Law Med Ethics. 2001;29(1):13-27.
MHC Center. Sex-Specific Medical Research: Why Women’s Health Can’t Wait. Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Mary Horrigan Connors Center for Women’s Health & Gender Biology. Brigham and Women’s Hospital;2014.
Morton MJ, Sonnad SS. Women on professional society and journal editorial boards. J National Med Assoc. 2007;99(7):764-771.
Pinkerton K, et al. Women and lung disease. sex differences and global health disparities. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2015;192(1):11-16.
Rademaker M. (2001). Do women have more adverse drug reactions? Am J Clin Dermatol. 2001;2(6): 349-351.
Soldin O, Mattison M. Sex differences in pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics. Clin Pharmacokinetics. 2009;48(3):143-157.