Why so few female MD's who treat PC?

Well, I have Dr. Celestia S. Higano at Seattle Cancer Care Alliance...

pasayten

Medical Oncology... https://www.seattlecca.org/providers/celestia-s-higano

TJ123 said...


Any ideas why so few female MD's treat PCa?

I think it's only because there's less female urologists in general. I was at a teaching hospital and female urology registrars (not-fully qualified urologists) weren't common. I only saw a couple compared to several male trainees. Why there aren't more female trainees is a good question. No idea.

I'd be ok with a female urologist. I had female nurses all the time dealing with me for months because of a stricture, catheter issues and then penile surgery to correct it. So shyness disappeared fast.

My MO at MSKCC is a female and she specializes in PCa. Dr. Han Xiao. She practices in Manhattan and Basking Ridge, NJ. She is excellent.

There are certainly female uros out there, they're just not as visible as their male counterparts.

Sometimes they do speak up as to why they chose urology as their specialty:

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=female+urologist+exam+youtube&view=detail&mid=9e510464a0b7237c9b299e510464a0b7237c9b29&form=vire

And here's a good write-up giving some statistics on females in urology. For example, it notes that about 25 % of med students in urology right now are women, so that the number of female urologists in the near future is likely to grow. It also stresses that patient comfort level is probably the biggest single factor in accepting lady uros:

https://www.cookmedical.com/urology/from-my-desk-women-in-urology/

But there's also something else going on here, regarding this apparent gender imbalance. Namely, that while we have traditionally thought of doctors in urology as men, don't we also almost always think of urology nurses as female?

Now that I think about it, In all the years I have had uro appointments, I don't ever recall seeing a male urological nurse. They were always women, and usually young women at that.

Lady urologists, and male urological nurses are probably out there, they just aren't all that common. Maybe that will change.

The imbalance may also be at least partially caused by a kind of vicious cycle due to patient expectation. For example, in another medical area, have any of you ever had your teeth cleaned by a male dental technician? I never have. Always women, and usually young women. So the public expects the dental tech to be female, probably young, the dentist's office honors that expectation, the techs continue to be female, the public continues to be satisfied, and the cycle continues.

No harm is done if such a pattern of gender expectation exists in various medical specialties, but, as noted, maybe gender expectations will be changing in the future.

(BTW, I personally am entirely unconcerned with this issue. If I'm in a doctor's office, in an exam room, I'm there because of an issue that's bothering me, my mind is on that, and not whether the medical person in front of me is a he or a she).

Randy's current Uro is a woman (Dr. Cara Cimmino). Randy is looking into an AUS and if he goes ahead with it, she'll be the surgeon.

Donna.

Very few female MD's choose surgery as a specialty, regardless of type for some reason.

😳

mattam said...
. Personally, I preferred DREs from a female.😀

Then you would have loved my RO’s (SRT consult) DRE’s.

He’s a man. Evidently, it’s his protocol to feel for mass/lumps/etc. Funny thing is....

He sent me back with a female that was teaching 2 other females how to do a DRE.

It was somewhat......”strange”... (to say the least)..... listening to her “teach” the other 2 girls about how to do a DRE. 😳

My initial urologist was a female doctor. No big deal.

Just this past Saturday, there was a large prostate cancer patient conference run by Malecare where all of the speakers were female. If I remember correctly, there were 12 or14 speakers and half were urologists...the rest were medical oncologists or psychologists. One was an active duty Army urologist in uniform. It was a very good conference with lots of take aways, but, around the idea of female versus male doctors, I think the consensus was there was not much of a difference, except that two of the speakers spoke about how their thinner (compared to male) fingers were appreciated for DRE's.

Although all my doctors have been male, in my almost nine years of dealing with PCA I have been familiar with three female uro's at City of Hope in Duarte, CA. One of them is actually an internationally recognized leader in PCA, Tanya Dorff, MD, who is currently Head of the Genitourinary Cancers Program at COH. The others are Laura Crocitto, MD, now at UCSF, and Jennifer Linehan, MD, now under the tutelage of Tim Wilson, MD, at St John's in Santa Monica, CA. All three are excellent doctors currently treating PCA patients.

I am sure there are many of us who feel uncomfortable exposing ourselves to females. However, as is the case with many of us, I have been prodded, had x-rays/scans with some sort of transmitter inserted in my rectum, been tested for bladder capacity and evacuation (the worse) and many others performed by females. Didn't like it one bit.

One of the nurses told me "when you have prostate cancer you leave your modesty at the door."