Despite increased gender equality in Thai society, women still face workplace obstacles, including in the medical field. Professor Emeritus Sirintara Singhara Na Ayudhaya, M.D., a specialist in Neurointerventional Radiology, notes that radiation-based treatment poses particular risks for female doctors, especially during pregnancy.
While now considered safe, female doctors planning pregnancy often take breaks from work for nine months during pregnancy plus an additional three to six months postpartum.
This creates career “gaps” requiring them to upskill and find appropriate ways to return to their profession due to continuous advancements in medical technology.
The medical profession also requires strong decision-making abilities, which can be affected in postpartum female doctors. Some may even leave the profession if they feel unable to overcome these perceptions.
Globally, the average ratio of female to male doctors in neurovascular medicine is 0 to 30%, indicating significant female underrepresentation. This ratio is even lower in some countries—Japan at only 5%, while Thailand ranges around 15-20%.
Factors contributing to female doctors leaving vary by country. For example, in New Zealand and Australia, the number of departing female doctors is zero due to more equitable organizational cultures, unlike many other countries where men predominantly hold senior roles.
Professor Emeritus Sirintara has witnessed at least eight female doctor colleagues leave the profession for personal and work-related reasons, often feeling treated with less equality than male counterparts. She found that departing female doctors typically switch to entirely different fields, while resigning male doctors tend to remain in medicine at new hospitals, meaning the system doesn’t lose them. This issue has been discussed internationally, including at the 2025 Asian Australasian Federation of Interventional and Therapeutic Neuroradiology (AAFITN) conference.
Factors and Solutions
In Thailand, while female medical students outnumber males, these numbers decrease at resident level and further at specialist level, suggesting quality-of-life issues for female doctors. Contributing factors include inadequate compensation relative to workload, pregnancy, and family responsibilities.
Additionally, some female doctors face bullying, sexual harassment, or patients specifically requesting male doctors. Limited career advancement opportunities also significantly influence departure decisions.
An AAFITN survey of 111 respondents found nearly 60% had witnessed female doctors with 10-15 years of experience leave the profession. Main issues identified were family life (including pregnancy), lack of career advancement, and work-related stress.
To address this, AAFITN proposes solutions to retain female doctors:
- Providing career advancement opportunities
- Including female doctors in organizational management roles
- Offering scholarships for training and academic research to qualified female doctors
Beyond these solutions, mentorship proves crucial. Professor Emeritus Sirintara believes mentors who can assist female doctors with both professional and personal challenges can reduce medical system personnel loss. She strongly advocates for this cause, believing these combined efforts will create major change by significantly reducing female doctor departure rates.
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