Now that Dr. Rachel S. Rubin has joined the practice and is treating men primarily for intimacy issues, including sexual dysfunction, we have taken notice of women making medical news lately. Pioneers in the fields of surgery and general medicine are getting noticed for their patient care. As we see more men in nursing scrubs and more women in the surgery theater, patient care can only improve with collaborative care.

Female Surgeons Make the Cut

An interesting study in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) asked whether patients fare better undergoing surgery when the person holding the scalpel is a woman. The research data suggests it is true in some cases. For example, in the study fewer patients treated by female surgeons died (4%), were readmitted to the hospital, or had complications within 30 days. But why? Surgery, a male-dominated field until very recently, is beginning to change. With the influx of women, who have to compete with male counterparts for sought-after assignments in their specialties, perhaps they have to be exceptional in every area of academic focus and surgical practice. Keep in mind these are small, but statistically significant differences in surgical outcomes between patients treated by female and male surgeons in this study. More data on gender influence of patient outcomes would be needed to learn more.

Talking to Patients

Researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health looked at a group of patients seeing general internists and found that those with female doctors tended to have lower death rates and were less likely to be readmitted to the hospital within 30 days than those with male doctors. Why is this? For one reason, it may be that female doctors may have a different communication style than their male counterparts. But is this always the case? Probably not.

At the end of the day, medicine is largely a collaborative effort and when we can have men and women on a more equal playing field, those who benefit most, are the patients. Drs. Simon and Rubin, Lucy Treene and Carol Mack and our caring staff, are truly a team, treating one patient at a time, with great results. Have questions about women’s and men’s sexual health? Contact us at (202) 293-1000.