Celebrating National Women’s Physicians Day
National Women’s Physicians Day is celebrated annually on February 3 – here’s what to know about this holiday, and how you can celebrate it.
In 1849, Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell made history by being the first ever female physician in the United States of America. After facing years of ridicule, harassment, second guessing and discrimination, she graduated at the top of her class at Geneva College, New York, where she was first admitted as a practical joke. Women have come far in medicine since then, but progress has been slow.
Women only accounted for about 10 percent of physicians as recently as 1965, and only in the last few decades have women achieved parity with men in medical school admissions and graduations. Among practicing physicians, women are still a minority.
To celebrate the progress made and draw awareness to the progress that still needs to be made, Dr. Hala Sabry called for the recognition of February 3rd as National Women’s Physicians Day (NWDP), in honor of Dr. Blackwell. Now in its fourth year, National Women’s Physicians Day has been recognized by several healthcare organizations, and aims to celebrate the progress that women have made in the field of medicine, starting with Dr. Blackwell’s inspiring story as a pioneer for countless women like her.
Remembering Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell
Born on February 3, 1821 near Bristol, England, Elizabeth Blackwell and her family moved to Ohio when she was 11. Her brother would later become a well-known abolitionist and supporter of the suffrage movement, and her sister followed her into medicine, one of very few women at the time.
Coming from nearly nothing, Elizabeth, her siblings, and her mother worked as teachers after the family patriarch, Samuel Blackwell, died only a few years after moving to America. Elizabeth was inspired to pursue medicine by a dying friend yet faced extreme opposition as no institution would accept her application. At the time, very few medical colleges existed in the United States, and none accepted women.
She was given an accidental opening when the Geneva College in New York sent her a letter of acceptance as a joke. Taking the opportunity, Blackwell studied harder than her peers despite often being made to sit separately during lectures and being barred from attendance in labs. The locals didn’t give her much support either, as her ambition of pursuing a male occupation branded her a failed woman.
After continuing her education in Europe, Blackwell returned to New York City in 1851, where she opened the New York Infirmary for Women and Children with her sister and another female colleague.
Dr. Blackwell’s Legacy
She returned to London permanently in 1875, leaving her sister in charge of her medical college in New York, and became a prestigious medical figure in British history as well, leading the initiative that led to the founding of the National Health Society some years prior, which primary acted to spread information about disease prevention, public health policy, and provided education for women and the poor. The training and education services provided by the Society were later adopted by the Board of Education, and its work potentially inspired the post-WWII era National Health Service (NHS).
Dr. Blackwell’s impact on both American and British healthcare can still be felt today, which is why February 3rd commemorates her contribution to medicine and sheds a greater light on the continuing impact that women have on healthcare today. The need for greater awareness is especially important in a post-#MeToo world, especially because many feel that not enough has changed given what we know about the facts today.
Medicine and #MeToo
In recent years, a greater insight was provided into the pay gap between male and female physicians, who are being paid 26 percent less than their male counterparts on average.
Despite currently representing over 60 percent of physicians under the age of 35 and over half of physicians under 44, female physicians are grosly underrepresented in positions of power and leadership, including faculty at US medical schools. The following shows the percentage of women in US medical schools as of 2015:
Female physicians also continue to report higher rates of harassment than their male colleagues, and face discrimination due to their gender. Female students are still getting mixed messages from male supervisors regarding their behavior and are punished for behavior that is typically rewarded in males (including assertiveness and decisiveness).
Years of advocacy and awareness are paying off, as more physicians than ever are female, and people of color. Yet it will take more time for organizational and administrative roles to reflect the same statistics, which will likely mean that a majority of today’s young physicians will continue to face pay gaps, and messages from higher-ups that continue to make managing a family and a successful career impossible.
How Are You Celebrating National Women’s Physicians Day?
With National Women’s Physicians Day coming up this February, there are plenty of ways for you to display solidarity with your fellow colleagues, and other women throughout the healthcare industry. Join your colleagues in spreading the word about NWPD through social media, share stories about female empowerment in the workplace, or share the facts that reflect how women have continued to climb the ranks in medicine for well over a century.
You can sport your own makeshift pins for NWPD or wear celebratory scrubs to help spread awareness about February 3rd, and encourage other colleagues to celebrate NWPD with you, regardless of gender or race. Blackwell’s brother fought for the abolition of slavery and women’s suffrage, and your male colleagues can campaign for policies that address the pay gap and other issues.
As we celebrate National Women’s Physicians Day, let us also call for mandatory paid leave for both men and women (maternity and paternity leave), flexible work hours outside of scheduled patient care, and better guidelines to help highlight that women can continue to display competence and brilliant work in the field of medicine while managing familial obligations alongside their partners. It’s already clear that female physicians are providing a service that is just as good or even better than their male colleagues – it’s time for truly equitable pay and a schedule that plays nice with both genders.
