Clinical Geneticist Reem Saadeh’s Perspective on Gender Bias in the Hospital

ARIANA TAVAKKOLI

When you’re working in the medical field, your experience can vary based not only on your speciality or education, but also how you identify. Dr. Reem Saadeh is a clinical geneticist, a doctor who sees patients with genetic disorders, working at the MedStar Georgetown University Hospital.

Dr. Saadeh was inspired to work in the medical field after falling out of a five-story high window when she was young, requiring her to have two surgeries. She remembers starting the year in a cast and ending it as the fastest girl in her grade, a memory she treasures as a means of motivation. Since the incident, she wanted to become a doctor to help others as her doctors helped her.

Dr. Saadeh works at a practice with many other women, and says that nowadays the number of women working in medicine is starting to surpass the number of men. She always feels a sense of support between her and her female coworkers. When her coworkers give presentations, they can look into the audience and see a reassuring group of women.

Dr. Reem Saadeh. MedStar Health

A few years ago, Dr. Saadeh attended a conference about the differences between men and women in the workplace. She learned that even accounting for time taken off for maternity leave, studies reveal that men are paid more than women for the same amount of time spent on a job in medicine in the same positions.

Studies also show that women are more likely to empathize with a patient, allowing the patient to feel understood and resulting in a better patient-physician relationship. Furthermore, female surgeons are just as able as their male counterparts. There is little difference between male and female doctors in terms of performance and skill, yet their pay disparity still exists.

Dr. Saadeh also observes that female doctors are frequently addressed by their first names or “Mrs.” instead of “Dr.,” even in a conversation where a man is addressed as “Dr.” And even as more women enter the medical field, female doctors are often assumed to be nurses. Sometimes, a female doctor will be working with a male student, yet a patient might refer to the student for information because of their internalized bias. Dr. Saadeh’s hospital colleagues now wear badges displaying their titles.

The gender pay barrier persists in the medical field. Bias presents itself in numerous ways, but women like Dr. Saadeh are helping to dismantle this bias and prove stereotypes wrong.