1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910456586103321

Autore

Boulis Ann K. <1968->

Titolo

The changing face of medicine [[electronic resource] ] : women doctors and the evolution of health care in America / / Ann K. Boulis, Jerry A. Jacobs

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Ithaca, N.Y., : ILR Press/Cornell University Press, c2008

ISBN

0-8014-6350-5

0-8014-6349-1

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (278 p.)

Collana

Culture and politics of health care work

Altri autori (Persone)

JacobsJerry A. <1955->

Disciplina

610.82

Soggetti

Women physicians - United States

Medical care - United States

Electronic books.

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Feminization of an evolving profession -- Applying for change -- The gendered map of contemporary medicine -- Gender, sorting, and tracking -- Work, family, marriage, and generational change -- Women physicians caring for patients -- Medicine as a family-friendly profession?.

Sommario/riassunto

The number of women practicing medicine in the United States has grown steadily since the late 1960's, with women now roughly at parity with men among entering medical students. Why did so many women enter American medicine? How are women faring, professionally and personally, once they become physicians? Are women transforming the way medicine is practiced? To answer these questions, The Changing Face of Medicine draws on a wide array of sources, including interviews with women physicians and surveys of medical students and practitioners. The analysis is set in the twin contexts of a rapidly evolving medical system and profound shifts in gender roles in American society. Throughout the book, Ann K. Boulis and Jerry A. Jacobs critically examine common assumptions about women in medicine. For example, they find that women's entry into medicine has less to do with the decline in status of the profession and more to do



with changes in women's roles in contemporary society. Women physicians' families are becoming more and more like those of other working women. Still, disparities in terms of specialty, practice ownership, academic rank, and leadership roles endure, and barriers to opportunity persist. Along the way, Boulis and Jacobs address a host of issues, among them dual-physician marriages, specialty choice, time spent with patients, altruism versus materialism, and how physicians combine work and family. Women's presence in American medicine will continue to grow beyond the 50 percent mark, but the authors question whether this change by itself will make American medicine more caring and more patient centered. The future direction of the profession will depend on whether women doctors will lead the effort to chart a new course for health care delivery in the United States.