Success Story: Female GPs outnumber male counterparts in this Aussi College

The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) is witnessing history as the female GPs outnumber their male colleagues in this Australian college. Interestingly, the college was started by an all-men team of doctors 66 years ago.

"We've come a long way since the organisation began at a men's club," said RACGP CEO Dr Zena Burgess talking about accomplishing the feat.

"It's the year of the superhero, first Wonder Woman, then the first female doctor, and now our female GPs, who really are very impressive.", he added.

From 47% in 2012-2013, the percentage of female doctors in this college has increased to 50.2% in 2016-2017.

Infact, women now outnumber men in general practice, with 973 more registered female GPs than males as of March 2017 (19,965 women versus 18,992 men), the Medical Board of Australia data confirms.

Queensland, however, is the only state or territory in Australia where there are more male doctors than female ones.

Also Read: Women Still a Minority in the Science World

Besides encouraging more and more young girls to adopt for this profession in the future, this upward trend observed in Australia will go a long way in breaking stereotypes related to women's ability in proving their expertise in competitive fields like medicine.

The Indian scenario

A report by TOI suggests that more Indian women study medicine but only a few among them practice. The data indicates that women comprise 50.6% of medical college admissions in 2014- 2015 but only one-third of these women get to the Post-graduate or doctoral levels.

Owing to the domestic chores and other familial responsibilities women are saddled with, only 17% allopathic doctors in India are women.

A paper published in Indian Journal of Gender Studies notes that medicine has been a male-dominated profession because it demands long working hours that discourages women as they grapple with striking the perfect work-life balance.

Two of India's neighbors - India and Bangladesh, on the other hand,have higher proportions of women in medical colleges, 70% and 60% respectively.

India needs to accelerate its efforts in ensuring the entry of more and more Indian women in medicine.

Read Also: Indian Women in Medicine