Problems for women in psychiatric residency

Women in psychiatry: A view from the Indian subcontinent

BACKGROUND

Psychiatry has not been a preferred medical specialty for women in the Indian subcontinent unlike in the Western countries like USA, Canada or UK. Recent years have seen an increase in the number of women doctors in India choosing psychiatry as career.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Information on women in psychiatry in the Indian subcontinent was collected using resources like PubMed, directories of the professional societies, websites of medical institues, souvenirs and scientific programme of various conferences and personal communication with psychiatrists, and the data about postgraduate trainees available with the authors' own institute.

RESULTS

Women psychiatrists constitute about 15% of total psychiatrists in India, out of whom only 10% are at a relatively senior level, and the most are young. The women psychiatrists are also in faculty positions in a number of medical schools and have held important positions in the Indian Psychiatric Society at different times.

CONCLUSIONS

Most of the women psychiatrists appear to be still at junior levels, having joined the profession relatively recently as compared to their male counterparts. The trend at increasing number of women psychiatrists in the Indian subcontinent is similar to the worldwide trends.

Women in Australian and New Zealand psychiatry: the fat lady sings

Gender disadvantage within the professions significantly affects the development of women doctors, resulting in morbidity and less than optimal development. Paradoxically, for a profession primarily concerned with the study of the vicissitudes of human development, psychiatry in Australia and New Zealand has yet to articulate those issues which bear directly upon the development of its own members. Systemic problems are identified within the institutions of medicine and psychiatry which compromise the development of both female and male trainees and which must concern medical educators. Recommendations are made concerning the structure and content of training programmes, most particularly post-graduate psychiatry.