Women in pain medicine

Abstract

In the UK more women than men are practicing medicine, and for the first time in the history of the Royal College of Anaesthetists (RCoA), the president of the RCoA, Dean of the Faculty of Pain Medicine, and Dean of the Faculty of Intensive Care Medicine are all women. However, within the subspecialty of pain medicine, there are significantly more men practicing than women, with the most recent UK estimates identifying that only 26.7% of current pain physicians are women. Both historical and modern perspectives illustrate how women often prefer to be cared for by other women, highlighting the importance of increased representation of women in pain clinics and interventional suites. We discuss current trends in pain medicine recruitment within the UK, where most pain physicians are recruited from anaesthesia training programs, including the barriers to women's representation and reasons women enter the subspecialty. We advocate for speaker gender quotas at conferences, diversity considerate workforce planning, peer support groups, adjustments to training programs, and further research to help narrow the gender gap.

Keywords: diversity; gender gap; pain medicine; recruitment; women.