DEMOGRAPHICS
Women in Medicine
Women to outnumber men by 2030
T
he number of female physicians
will outnumber their male
counterparts by 2030, projects
a College report that has ana-
lyzed physician demographics in Ontario.
Assuming that current system and growth
levels remain constant over time, the re-
port projects that a gradual decline in male
physicians with a concomitant increase in
female physicians means there will be equal
numbers of men and women in the Col-
lege membership by 2029, and subsequent
increases in the physician population will be
lead by female physicians.
“In the practice of medicine, you could say
that the only constant has been change,” said
Dr. Nancy Whitmore, College Registrar/
CEO. “This shift from a profession over-
whelmingly dominated by men to one where
the majority of practitioners will be women
is another example. As physicians, we must
be nimble, to the changes brought by scien-
tific advancement and to social change. That
adaptability is part of the art of medicine,”
she said.
In fact, the changing demographic is re-
flected in the College’s leadership. In 2018,
Dr. Whitmore became the College’s first
female Registrar/CEO, Dr. Brenda Copps is
the College’s current Vice-President and late
last year, Dr. Sheila Laredo was named as the
College’s Chief Medical Advisor.
The College’s report uses 18 years of data,
with the projections based on membership
numbers drawn from the years 2009 to
2018. The purpose of this report is to docu-
ment physician demographics and practice
changes over time to better predict what the
face of medicine will look like over the next
20 years.
ISSUE 1, 2019 DIALOGUE
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