Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Sep 5;20(1):67.
doi: 10.1186/s12960-022-00762-9.

Women's contribution to medicine in Bahrain: leadership and workforce

Feras H Abuzeyad  1 , Leena Al Qasem  2 , Luma Bashmi  3 , Mona Arekat  4 , Ghada Al Qassim  5 , Ahmed Alansari  6 , Eman Ahmed Haji  7 , Amena Malik  2 , Priya Das  8 , Abdulla Almusalam  8 , Maryam Feras Abuzeyad  9
Affiliations

Women's contribution to medicine in Bahrain: leadership and workforce

Feras H Abuzeyad et al. Hum Resour Health. .

Abstract

Background: Women make up a significant proportion of workforce in healthcare. However, they remain underrepresented in leadership positions relating to healthcare for a multitude of reasons: balancing personal and work duties, favoritism toward men, lack of support from colleagues and mentors, as well as other factors. This study aims to recognize the contribution made by women in the Bahraini healthcare sector by determining the gender distribution in Bahrain's medical schools, government hospitals, Ministry of Health, and National Health Regulatory Authority.

Methods: Data were collected from the Bahraini Ministry of Health, National Health Regulatory Authority, Salmaniya Medical Complex, King Hamad University Hospital, Bahrain Defence Force Royal Medical Services, the College of Medicine and Medical Sciences in the Arabian Gulf University, and the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland-Bahrain. Only physicians who held a Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery and a valid license to practice from NHRA were eligible to participate. Descriptive statistics were used to derive the frequencies and percentages of physicians with the following leadership positions: (1) top administrative positions (e.g., Chief executive officer); (2) heads of departments; (3) heads of committees; and (4) academic positions (e.g., Professor). Data were also collected from the two medical schools in Bahrain to see the trend in female enrollment into medical schools since 2004.

Results: The results of the study indicated that leadership positions were mostly held by males in Bahrain (59.4% vs. 40.6%). However, Bahraini males and females equally dominated academic positions. Male physicians also dominated surgical specialties; however, female Bahraini physicians slightly surpassed male Bahraini physicians at the specialist and consultant levels (female to male: 11.9% vs. 10.4% and 33.2% vs. 30.4%, respectively). Furthermore, more females were reported to have general licenses. A trend analysis since 2004 showed that female medical students' representation was higher than males over the years.

Conclusions: This study highlights the increasing trend of women's participation and contribution to medicine in Bahrain. The data indicated continued growth in the number of female medical students and physicians. As such, it is likely that females will have a bigger impact on healthcare in the future with potential to hold more leadership positions in Bahrain.

Keywords: Gender; Health workforce; Leadership; Medical students; Medicine; Women.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Leadership positions by gender and citizenship
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Licensing categories by gender and citizenship
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Percentage of medical students graduates in Bahrain by gender and citizenship
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Jefferson L, Bloor K, Maynard A. Women in medicine: historical perspectives and recent trends. Br Med Bull. 2015;114(1):5–15. doi: 10.1093/bmb/ldv007. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Wynn R. Saints and sinners: women and the practice of medicine throughout the ages. JAMA. 2000;283(5):668–669. doi: 10.1001/jama.283.5.668-JMS0202-4-1. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Boniol M, McIsaac M, Xu L, Wuliji T, Diallo K, Campbell J. Gender equity in the health workforce: analysis of 104 countries (No. WHO/HIS/HWF/Gender/WP1/2019.1). World Health Organization. 2019.
    1. OECD. Women make up most of the health sector workers but they are under‐represented in high‐skilled jobs. 2017.
    1. Ross S. The feminization of medicine. AMA J Ethics. 2003;5(9):298–299. - PubMed