Introducing Dr. Smith, Dr. Wang, and Emily

Excerpt

In the field of gastroenterology, women comprise about a fifth of all practicing physicians and roughly a third of all fellows [1]. While striving for equal representation is important, “the problem is not merely the number of women in gastroenterology—it is also their lived experiences and opportunity to succeed once in training and practice” [2]. Unfortunately, in many facets of their professional lives, women face discrimination that undermines their perceived authority and expertise. For instance, several studies of major medical conferences have revealed that women are less likely to be introduced by their formal doctoral titles when compared to men [3‐5]. Differences in use of formal titles by gender, though subtle, serve to enforce the barriers that women face in medicine. …