How female doctors make a career
02.06.2010 15:44
German Society for Internal Medicine supports the career path of young internists
Women only hold six percent of high-ranking medical professorships. Nationwide, only one university chair in internal medicine is female. On the other hand, more than 60 percent of medical students are female. Their share among graduates is 57 percent. At the same time, Germany is threatened with a shortage of doctors. In order to attract committed and especially scientifically interested female young people to internal medicine, the German Society for Internal Medicine (DGIM) calls for the promotion of young female scientists in internal medicine in a current position paper. In the future, the DGIM will offer, among other things, mentoring seminars for young internists in clinics and research.
When it comes to specialist recognition, women only make up 39 percent. “We lose a lot of women between the state exam and becoming a specialist,” confirms Professor Dr. med. Elisabeth Märker-Hermann, Chairwoman of the DGIM Commission “Science – Promoting Young Talents”. The commission cites a number of reasons in its position paper “Promoting young female scientists in internal medicine”: “One reason is certainly that specialist training usually coincides with the family phase between the ages of 30 and 35,” explains Märker-Hermann, director of the clinic Internal Medicine IV by Dr. Horst Schmidt Clinics (HSK) in Wiesbaden. The small number of part-time jobs in the clinics particularly hinders women from continuing and completing their training. This means that a lot of the potential of well-trained female doctors remains unused, says Märker-Hermann. The results of a study in the “European Journal of Heart Failure” (2009:11(3)) indicate that a higher proportion of women among internists could also improve the quality of care.
Women are even less present in medical and scientific careers: their share of lecturers and assistants is 32 percent. There are twelve percent of C3 professorships and only six percent of C4 professorships. Eleven percent of senior hospital physicians are female. “Urgent efforts must therefore be made at universities, hospitals and research institutions to improve the career opportunities of women in the medical profession,” emphasizes Professor Dr. med. Hans-Peter Schuster, Secretary General of the DGIM. As the largest medical-scientific society, the DGIM will offer regular mentoring seminars in the future. Working with mentors supports young internists in their scientific work and helps them to make contacts and network with colleagues.
In its position paper, the DGIM also recommends avoiding exclusion mechanisms when advertising positions: such as an age limit or a general ban on part-time work. “Job filling procedures must be transparent and comprehensible,” adds Märker-Hermann. Practical considerations are also important: job pools for pregnancy and parental leave replacements promote the compatibility of family and work, as do kindergartens that are open longer than nine to five.
Those interested can find the current position paper “Promotion of young female scientists in internal medicine” on the DGIM homepage at www.dgim.de/pdf/2010-Stellungnahme_VI.pdf or in the specialist journal DMW Deutsche Medizinische Wochenschrift, issue 135 (22), published.