Patient perceptions of emergency physicians: the gender gap still exists

Abstract

This study examines whether female emergency physicians are less likely than male emergency physicians to be recognized by patients as physicians. A convenience sample of adult patients seen while a trained observer was on duty in an academic Emergency Department constituted the study population. After the first physician contact, the observer asked the patient if a physician had seen the patient yet. The observer recorded the physician's sex, the patient’s response, sex, age, and race. The frequencies that male and female physicians were recognized as physicians were compared. For the 184 physician-patient contacts evaluated, 98/105 (93.3%) of males were recognized as physicians and 62/79 (78.5%) of females were recognized as physicians. Females were significantly less likely than males to be recognized as physicians (chi-square, p = 0.003). Female emergency physicians are less likely than male emergency physicians to be recognized by patients as physicians.