Gender equity in BC medicine: Share your thoughts and have your say

Doctors of BC is seeking feedback from members on an important topic: gender equity in medicine. From June 30 to July 21, we encourage doctors to share their thoughts on our online member engagement platform. By sharing your voice, you can make a major contribution to future developments in the area.

Research from Canada and around the world suggests that female physicians are underrepresented in positions of leadership, experience more difficulty with work-life integration, and experience gender-based income gaps.

Share your perspectives on gender equity in BC medicine

The Council on Health Economics and Policy (CHEP), a standing committee of the Board of Directors, is currently in the early stages of research and consideration of this issue, with the goal of developing policy addressing this topic. Your input can help Doctors of BC create policy that is relevant to you, and to your colleagues across British Columbia.

Did you know?

• 41% of physicians are women, but they are underrepresented in medical leadership. For instance, only or 2 of the 17 deans of medicine in Canada are women—just 12%.
• An Ontario Medical Association study suggested that female physicians based in the province take in approximately 15.6% less in daily billings than their male counterparts, This is despite controlling for variables such as geography, specialty, and working characteristics (years in practice, days worked, holidays worked, etc.).
• In Canada, women make up less than 35% of the physicians among the 10 specialties with the highest gross and net incomes.
• A 2021 US study showed that female physicians consistently reported significantly poorer work-life integration scores than their male counterparts, independent of other personal and professional factors.
• A 2016 US study showed that female physicians with children spend 100.2 minutes more per day on household activities and child care than their male counterparts.

While the causes behind these challenges aren’t fully understood, much of the research on gender equity suggests that pre-existing gender bias in both medicine and society at large are likely significant contributing factors.

How to access our member engagement platform

Just like our previous member engagements, we are using Bang the Table, and urge you to visit our engagement homepage. If you have not used the platform before, registering and learning about the engagement process is simple. For those who have taken part in previous discussions, please use your existing login details.

We’d like to hear from you on this topic. Share your perspectives and support Doctors of BC to further explore gender equity in BC medicine. Discussions on these topics will close July 21^st at 11:59 pm.

If you have any queries about this engagement opportunity, please email: View Email Addresspolicyandplanning@doctorsofbc.ca.