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. 2019;28(4):315-323.
doi: 10.1159/000499592. Epub 2019 Mar 15.

Female Physicians Leading Health Care in the Arab World

Salman Al Sabah  1 , Fajer AlHamdan  2 , Iman Qadhi  2 , Sameera Shuaibi  2 , Shaden Younes  2 , Eliana Al Haddad  3
Affiliations

Female Physicians Leading Health Care in the Arab World

Salman Al Sabah et al. Med Princ Pract. 2019.

Abstract

Background and objectives: A global trend in female leadership roles in the medical profession is on the rise, and females have been taking up leadership roles in varying and increasing levels. This study aims to identify changes in trends in the medical field in terms of gender in the last decade in Kuwait.

Methods: A case study was conducted, in which data on leadership positions in Kuwait's government hospitals were obtained from hospital registries. Demographic data about female to male physicians were collected from statistics published by the Department of Manpower, Statistics and Planning of Kuwait's Ministry of Health. In addition, statistics on medical graduates were obtained from the Faculty of Medicine (FOM), Kuwait University (KU).

Results: In general, every government hospital in Kuwait has experienced an increase in leadership roles among females; in 2008, among all leadership positions in Kuwait's general hospitals, males occupied a majority of positions (60%); whereas in 2016, the male to female ratio was 1:1. The most change in gender trends was witnessed at Mubarak Al-Kabeer Hospital, where female leaders went from 38% in 2008 to 73% in 2016. The specialties that have the highest number of females in leadership positions across all hospitals from 2008 to 2016 were nuclear medicine, radiology, and laboratory medicine. In KU's FOM, female graduates outweighed male graduates, except in 2005-2006, where females reached a minimum of 48%. The number of female physicians has also increased from its lowest of 31% of the total number of physicians in 2004-2006, to 37% in 2015.

Conclusion: While women make up more than half of medical graduates in Kuwait at present, significant barriers had restricted their entry into formal medical leadership roles in the past. However, it is now seen that females currently occupy more leadership positions in government hospitals in Kuwait.

Keywords: Epidemiology; Health informatics; Kuwait.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Male and female percentage leadership positions trends with time in all hospitals.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Male and female percentage leadership positions trends with time in Mubarak hospital.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Male and female percentage leadership positions trends with time in Adan hospital.
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Male and female percentage leadership positions trends with time in Amiri hospital.
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
Male and female percentage leadership positions trends with time in Farwaniya hospital.
Fig. 6
Fig. 6
Male and female percentage leadership positions trends with time in Jahra hospital.
Fig. 7
Fig. 7
Percentage of graduates from KU Medical School in terms of gender.
Fig. 8
Fig. 8
Percentage of female heads in each specialty with time.
Fig. 9
Fig. 9
Percentage of physicians according to gender.
Fig. 10
Fig. 10
Percentage of female physicians in the workforce with time.
Fig. 11
Fig. 11
Female population in Kuwait (as a percentage of the total).
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