Do women prefer care from female or male obstetrician-gynecologists?
Johnson AM; Schnatz PF; Kelsey AM; Ohannessian CM Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA. OBJECTIVE: To determine whether men should be encouraged to enter the medical specialty of obstetrics and gynecology. METHODS: A self-administered survey was designed for and distributed to patients (N=264) in 13 obstetrics and gynecology waiting rooms in Connecticut. The survey was used to determine whether there were any patient preferences with regard to the gender of physicians providing obstetric and gynecologic care within this population. In addition, the rationale for any preferences was analyzed. RESULTS: The majority of patients (66.6%) had no gender bias when selecting an obstetrician-gynecologist, and an even larger majority (198, 80.8%) felt that physician gender does not influence quality of care. There was no statistical difference in patient satisfaction based on physician sex. Respondents self-reporting gender bias rarely selected obstetrician-gynecologist
