Skip to content
  • About
  • Contact
  • Contribute
  • Book
  • Careers
  • Podcast
  • Recommended
  • Speaking
  • All
  • Physician
  • Practice
  • Policy
  • Finance
  • Conditions
  • .edu
  • Patient
  • Meds
  • Tech
  • Social
  • Video
    • All
    • Physician
    • Practice
    • Policy
    • Finance
    • Conditions
    • .edu
    • Patient
    • Meds
    • Tech
    • Social
    • Video
    • About
    • Contact
    • Contribute
    • Book
    • Careers
    • Podcast
    • Recommended
    • Speaking

What Kamala Harris means for women doctors

Archana Reddy Shrestha, MD
Physician
November 15, 2020
Share
Tweet
Share

No matter which presidential candidate you voted for or which political party you belong to, we women should stand together unified and proud in knowing that for the first time, a woman is going to Washington, DC, to serve as the vice president of our great nation.

It is truly a historic moment for all American women and makes the possibility of a woman as president of the United States one day so much more plausible. (It’s something I’ve dreamt of seeing ever since I was a little girl.) And even more historic is that Senator Kamala Harris is a black woman with a multicultural background, the daughter of an Indian mother and a Jamaican father.

In an interview, Harris quoted her mother as saying, “Kamala, you may be the first to do many things, but make sure you’re not the last.”

While Kamala Harris has shattered the glass ceiling for women all the way to the vice-presidential office of the United States, we can’t allow there to be only the occasional unicorns who make it to positions of power.

As her mother advised Kamala, the same thing applies to us in medicine. Just because we have a few women doctors in national, regional, and organizational leadership positions or in traditionally male-dominated fields within medicine, such as neurosurgery, for example, we must be careful not to think women in medicine have arrived.

We must continue to work to create gender equity as here is where we stand today: A significant gender pay gap still exists in medicine where women doctors earn up to 33% less than their male counterparts. Even though women make up 36% of practicing doctors in the country, only 15% of women doctors are department chairs. Among women doctors who are also mothers, 78% felt discrimination. All of this is leading to 48% of women doctors reporting burnout, and 22% of female physicians admitted thoughts of suicide this year right before the pandemic hit our shores.

As a nation, we cannot afford to lose doctors to professional burnout and suicide, especially in the midst of a global pandemic worsening and hitting record numbers throughout our country in recent weeks.

There is no doubt that a leaky leadership pipeline in medicine, and the physician community needs to make sure that more women come through the ranks. We need #HeForShe allies to ensure that any qualified and interested woman should have leadership opportunities available to them. And for those women doctors in leadership positions already, they have a responsibility to see that more women can serve in those roles in the future.

There certainly is much healing that needs to happen in our country after a polarizing and bitter election cycle, but because of vice president-elect Kamala Harris, what I have is hope for the future of women and people of color. As president-elect Joe Biden did with his running mate Kamala Harris, it will take men and women doctors working together to bring about gender equity in medicine. But that path is possible if we work together to let not Kamala Harris be the only woman to reach such heights, but the first of many.

Archana Reddy Shrestha is a physician life coach, author, and co-founder, Women in White Coats. She can be reached on Instagram @womeninwhitecoatsblog.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com

Prev

Let's make compassion go viral [PODCAST]

November 14, 2020 Kevin 0
…
Next

Physicians are drowning in electronic information

November 15, 2020 Kevin 3
…

Tagged as: Public Health & Policy

Post navigation

< Previous Post
Let's make compassion go viral [PODCAST]
Next Post >
Physicians are drowning in electronic information

ADVERTISEMENT

More by Archana Reddy Shrestha, MD

  • Metric shaming in medicine and 3 ways to overcome it

    Archana Reddy Shrestha, MD
  • How to talk with your kids about exercise

    Archana Reddy Shrestha, MD
  • You have no idea what it’s like working in the ER as a pregnant physician

    Archana Reddy Shrestha, MD

Related Posts

  • Why do doctors who hate being doctors still practice?

    Kristin Puhl, MD
  • Doctors: It’s time to unionize

    Thomas D. Guastavino, MD
  • Doctors die. But the good ones leave a legacy.

    Jaime B. Gerber, MD
  • Social media: The ultimate tool for women in medicine

    Meridith J. Englander, MD
  • When doctors are right

    Sophia Zilber
  • We’re doctors. We signed the book.

    Jonathan Peters, MD

More in Physician

  • The silent victories of medicine

    Dr. Bodhibrata Banerjee
  • A cancer doctor’s warning about the future of medicine

    Banu Symington, MD
  • Teaching medical students what it is really like to be a physician

    William Lynes, MD
  • The hypocrisy of insurance referral mandates

    Ryan Nadelson, MD
  • The timeless art of diagnostic reasoning

    Sandip Pandey
  • What MS can teach cardiologists about disease

    Larry Kaskel, MD
  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • The mental health workforce is collapsing

      Ronke Lawal | Conditions
    • The stoic cure for modern anxiety

      Osmund Agbo, MD | Physician
    • Why doctors are losing the health care culture war

      Rusha Modi, MD, MPH | Policy
    • The hypocrisy of insurance referral mandates

      Ryan Nadelson, MD | Physician
    • A nurse practitioner on leaving the medical machine

      Carrie Friedman, NP | Conditions
    • Why shifting from wellness to well-being matters for physicians and patients [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
  • Past 6 Months

    • Rethinking the JUPITER trial and statin safety

      Larry Kaskel, MD | Conditions
    • The ignored clinical trials on statins and mortality

      Larry Kaskel, MD | Conditions
    • How one physician redesigned her practice to find joy in primary care again [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • I passed my medical boards at 63. And no, I was not having a midlife crisis.

      Rajeev Khanna, MD | Physician
    • Why doctors must fight for a just health care system

      Alankrita Olson, MD, MPH & Ashley Duhon, MD & Toby Terwilliger, MD | Policy
    • Why medicine needs a second Flexner Report

      Robert C. Smith, MD | Physician
  • Recent Posts

    • Why bureaucracy is threatening the survival of private practice physicians [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Why direct primary care (DPC) models fail

      Dana Y. Lujan, MBA | Policy
    • The silent victories of medicine

      Dr. Bodhibrata Banerjee | Physician
    • How timing affects chemical exposure risks

      Oluyemisi Famuyiwa, MD | Conditions
    • A physician’s tribute to respiratory therapists

      Zoran Naumovski, MD | Conditions
    • A cancer doctor’s warning about the future of medicine

      Banu Symington, MD | Physician

Subscribe to KevinMD and never miss a story!

Get free updates delivered free to your inbox.


Find jobs at
Careers by KevinMD.com

Search thousands of physician, PA, NP, and CRNA jobs now.

Learn more

View 7 Comments >

Founded in 2004 by Kevin Pho, MD, KevinMD.com is the web’s leading platform where physicians, advanced practitioners, nurses, medical students, and patients share their insight and tell their stories.

Social

  • Like on Facebook
  • Follow on Twitter
  • Connect on Linkedin
  • Subscribe on Youtube
  • Instagram

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • The mental health workforce is collapsing

      Ronke Lawal | Conditions
    • The stoic cure for modern anxiety

      Osmund Agbo, MD | Physician
    • Why doctors are losing the health care culture war

      Rusha Modi, MD, MPH | Policy
    • The hypocrisy of insurance referral mandates

      Ryan Nadelson, MD | Physician
    • A nurse practitioner on leaving the medical machine

      Carrie Friedman, NP | Conditions
    • Why shifting from wellness to well-being matters for physicians and patients [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
  • Past 6 Months

    • Rethinking the JUPITER trial and statin safety

      Larry Kaskel, MD | Conditions
    • The ignored clinical trials on statins and mortality

      Larry Kaskel, MD | Conditions
    • How one physician redesigned her practice to find joy in primary care again [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • I passed my medical boards at 63. And no, I was not having a midlife crisis.

      Rajeev Khanna, MD | Physician
    • Why doctors must fight for a just health care system

      Alankrita Olson, MD, MPH & Ashley Duhon, MD & Toby Terwilliger, MD | Policy
    • Why medicine needs a second Flexner Report

      Robert C. Smith, MD | Physician
  • Recent Posts

    • Why bureaucracy is threatening the survival of private practice physicians [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Why direct primary care (DPC) models fail

      Dana Y. Lujan, MBA | Policy
    • The silent victories of medicine

      Dr. Bodhibrata Banerjee | Physician
    • How timing affects chemical exposure risks

      Oluyemisi Famuyiwa, MD | Conditions
    • A physician’s tribute to respiratory therapists

      Zoran Naumovski, MD | Conditions
    • A cancer doctor’s warning about the future of medicine

      Banu Symington, MD | Physician

MedPage Today Professional

An Everyday Health Property Medpage Today
  • Terms of Use | Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy
  • DMCA Policy
All Content © KevinMD, LLC
Site by Outthink Group

What Kamala Harris means for women doctors
7 comments

Comments are moderated before they are published. Please read the comment policy.

Loading Comments...