Another perspective on providers

[JDCitizen]

I have had the privilege in my career to talk with one of the first female heart surgeons in the country and listened to her horror stories about working in medicine (the formally male dominated and in a lot of instances still is). From the stories she told me and from some the other female doctors their experiences up until recently were / are most shocking.

Anyway female/male: Nurses, APRNs, PAs, MDs, DOs, students (for that matter any medical people on this site). Have you ever experienced or felt that your gender / race / nationality has affected your relationship with your patients / staff / providers?

[DC2RN]

I work in the OR and I can tell you that everyone has a number of horror stories. It is just an abusive environment. The stories sound shocking to people outside of the environment, because they do not understand what residency is like. It is really hard to become a heart surgeon, whether you are male or female. I do not know if her stories are worse than her male counterparts.

The flip side of this issue is how many female residents cover their mistakes by being 'cute'. I have seen that first hand.