GENDER EQUITY IN CLINICAL DERMATOLOGY (10/24/2021)

Throughout my studies in the Independent Study and Mentorship course offered at Frisco High School, I have been afforded the opportunity to become knowledgeable about Dermatology. So far, I have learned about the general factors of Dermatology such as specific skin diseases (such as vitiligo), technological innovations, machinery, how COVID-19 has affected the field, etc. The research I have conducted has aided me in understanding the requirements a physician must obtain/perform. In addition, I feel that I am better prepared to discuss/ask questions during interviews in an attempt to gain ideas for my Original Work/Final Project. In the process of analyzing these articles/documents I began to wonder how many women are employed within Dermatology (as the medical field is predominately male, this is proven through reliable statistics). With this being said, I decided to investigate by reading the article “Gender Equity in Clinical Dermatology-Reason for Optimism” which was published through PubMed (a medical database with reliable articles). “Gender equity” is the process of fairness being distributed between men and women. To ensure this equity, strategies and measures must be available to compensate for women’s historical and social disadvantages that prevent women from operating on an even playing field. If gender equity is integrated into the values of employers/companies, prosperity can be achieved. Unfortunately, these inequalities can be shown through payment gaps, discrimination for certain jobs, etc. In regards to the article being discussed, the author provides the audience with a description of how gender equity in Dermatology is drastically improving. For example, the article describes how Dermatology appears to be a fair bit better than other specialties with regard to gender equity. Statistically speaking, 52.5% of board-certified dermatologists in 2017 were women. However, this specialty still encounters issues with gender equity pertaining to leadership roles, academics, and research.