Physician gender and patient care.

Abstract

Since 1960, there has been a remarkable increase in the number of women graduating from United States medical schools. Concurrent with this increase, a large body of research has emerged on whether patient gender has an impact on disease diagnosis and therapy. From that research, a related question has emerged: Do patients receive different treatment based on the gender of their physician? In this article, we review the current literature regarding the effects of the gender of the primary care physician on patient care. Our purpose is to understand the potential implications of the changing demographics in the primary care specialties, and to propose a framework for further investigation.