By Elena Basati,
Medicine, according to Oxford definition, is the science or practice of the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease. Supposedly, medical professionals are health specialists capable to cure or prevent an illness and, therefore, improve your well-being. Individuals assume that doctors are objective and unprejudiced, applying their knowledge and skills to all their patients equally. Even though, medicine’s role, as in any scientific domain, remains the same, which is to conduct research in order to advance our understanding of our world and ourselves, it is exercised by humans that, by default, are succumbed to error. Without a doubt, the purpose isn’t to set unrealistic standards and be under the illusion that doctors are immune to mistakes or even foster an environment where people avoid doctors and rely to non-scientific alternatives. However, we must shed light on the existing prejudices and biases of medical practitioners and how these factors contribute to delayed or wrong diagnosis and mismanagement of conditions.
Numerous examples highlight the influence of personal biases and prejudices in the therapeutic and diagnostic process. For instance, gender bias which is defined by the American Association of Psychology is a variety of stereotypical beliefs or biases about individuals on the basis of their gender. Multiple medical cases confirm the existence of gender bias in the medical environment and is often exercised by physicians leading to detrimental consequences concerning the health of female patients. Gender bias is sometimes conscious and the person is aware of it but in other occasions it is implicit and unconscious.
Before delving deeper into this phenomenon, sex and gender must be defined. According to Yale School of Medicine, the term sex should be used as a classification, generally as male or female, according to the reproductive organs and functions that derive from the chromosomal complement [generally XX for female and XY for male], however, the term gender should be used to refer to a person’s self-representation as male, female, or other, and how that person is responded to by social institutions on the basis of the individual’s gender presentation. In this paper, only cis-gender women’s narratives and experiences will be investigated, since the disorders are related to female reproductive organs, like PCOS and endometriosis. Gender identity is separate from biological sex. Transgender women (assigned male at birth) cannot develop conditions like PCOS or endometriosis. Meanwhile, transgender men and nonbinary individuals who were assigned female at birth can experience these disorders, but their experiences are often influenced by both gender bias and biases related to their transgender identity.
Throughout the years, women have been expressing the same angst and have been through similar struggle. Women are more likely to die from cardio-vascular diseases than men, they receive less analgesia after surgery and are more likely to be prescribed psychological treatment. Female patients report that they are feeling disbelieved by physicians and their pain isn’t taken seriously. In research trials, women are underrepresented and sometimes even excluded, leading to physicians missing, misdiagnosing, or ignoring diseases that present differences in symptomatology among genders.
Despite medicine’s foundation in science and objectivity, it remains a human practice shaped by societal biases. Gender bias in healthcare has long led to the dismissal of women’s symptoms, misdiagnosis, and inadequate treatment, particularly in conditions like PCOS and endometriosis. Women’s pain is too often minimized, their concerns overlooked, and their representation in medical research insufficient.
Acknowledging these disparities is not an attack on the medical profession but a call to refine it. By confronting and addressing these biases, we can work toward a healthcare system where every patient is heard, believed, and treated with the care they deserve.
References
- Bias: Gender bias. APA Dictionary of Psychology. Available here
- Medicine. Oxford English Dictionary. Available here
- Sex and gender: What’s the difference? Yale School of Medicine. Available here
