This Week
PIC OF THE WEEK
AUSTRALIA Rachael Speechley( right) from the Red Cross Blood Service bandages Santa after he donated blood in Rockhampton last week. As the holiday period approaches, the service is asking for people to factor a blood donation into their plans, revealing they keep a secret list of‘ nice’ life-savers. Locals named Michelle, Peter, Jennifer, David, Amanda, Michael, Nicole, John, Sarah and Mark are most likely to give blood in the area.“ No matter what your name is, we would love to add you to our life-savers list,” a spokesman said. Blood cannot be stockpiled so must be donated in the days immediately before and after public holidays.
Photo: News Corp
What do we know about doctors’ wives?
QUOTES OF THE WEEK
“ I love moulding malleable minds. I try to impart my values— holistic management of the entire patient.”
Dr Francis Antonio, a GP in Shoalhaven, NSW, on winning South Eastern
NSW Supervisor of the Year.
Journal Talk
Michael Woodhead
SNAPSHOT
I FIRST came across the phrase“ doctors’ wives” in 2004, when it was used disparagingly by columnist Malcolm Farr to describe women“ from comfortable families created by high-income husbands”, who were‘ guilty’ of expressing concern about the Iraq war.
Others have pointed to earlier use of the term in the 1994 Cold Chisel song H-Hour Hotel( in which doctors’ wives apparently gather in high class bars with“ trendy cokers”) and the 1971 film Doctors’ Wives,(“ a suburban sex farce”, says IMDB). There was even a 1930 novel of the same name, in which a young wife becomes indignant at taking second place to her husband’ s career and“ forms a league of doctors’ wives who attempt to raise their status”.
With the gender shift in medicine, the term now seems insultingly sexist. But despite almost 100 years of doctors’ wives featuring in the popular media, there has been little attention paid to medical spouses in the medical literature.
CANCER CRYSTAL BALL About 138,000 Australians will be diagnosed with cancer in 2018, according to trend data from the new National Cancer Control Indicators website.
Prediction data shows in 2018 there will be:
18235 CASES OF BREAST CANCER
17003 CASES OF COLORECTAL CANCER
14320 CASES OF MELANOMA
12741 CASES OF LUNG CANCER
7729 CASES OF PROSTATE CANCER
However, that’ s now changed with an article in Annals of Internal Medicine, which profiles the financial and work status of 49,000 physicians and their spouses. It found that 17 % of male doctors were married to a female doctor, and 31 % of female doctors had a male doctor spouse.
The survey reveals huge gender income gaps for male and female medical spouses. Male doctors, regardless of their spouse’ s profession, had an average annual income of $ 234,000. Female doctors married to male doctors had lower incomes($ 131,000) and worked fewer hours. For female non-medical spouses of male doctors, the average income was $ 27,200, and almost half of them did not work outside the home. In contrast, nonmedical male spouses of female doctors earned an average of $ 100,000, and most had full-time work outside the home.
The researchers said the survey data confirmed previous reports suggesting that female partners of male doctors were likely
Source: Australian Government. Cancer Incidence 1982-2018. National Cancer Control Indicators, Canberra, 2017. to be on lower incomes and were foregoing professional careers to focus on household responsibilities such as child rearing. And while this was less apparent for female doctors married to male doctors, there was still a significant income and household responsibility gap.
“ Our results may not be specific to physicians and may reflect traditional gender roles more broadly,” they added. Another way of looking at it is that“ female doctors can afford to work a bit less following marriage”, according to Dr Richard Lehman, writing in the BMJ. He also notes that contrary to the Mills & Boon stereotype, only 8 % of male doctors marry nurses.
Whichever way you look at it, there’ s obviously still a long way to go before female partners of male doctors achieve equality in income and careers. Perhaps we should take another look at the 1930 novel and its league of Doctor’ s Wives. Annals of Internal Medicine 2017; online.
54 %
OF ALL CANCER DIAGNOSES WILL BE IN MEN
“ He is almost friendless. He has the charisma of a speculum.”
Anonymous Liberal Party colleague of health minister Greg Hunt, commenting in the Herald Sun on Mr Hunt’ s apparent bid for the deputy leadership of the party.
“ I’ m living the double life.”
Dr Diaa Samuel, a Canadian-based ENT surgeon who flies to
Geraldton, WA, to work for a week each month.
“ Some of their practices are stopping people from seeking mental health plans from their GP.”
Lucy Brogden, chair of the National Mental Health Commission, criticises the policies of the life insurance industry during a Senate inquiry.
“ We initially decided not to honour the tattoo.”
Dr Gregory Holt, a Florida emergency physician, says a man’ s‘ Do Not Resuscitate’ tattoo caused more confusion than clarity.
10 | Australian Doctor | 15 December 2017 www. australiandoctor. com. au