National medical women's group marks 75 years
Date: Aug. 30, 1999
Time: 10:58 am
In just one century, Canada's female doctors have gone from fighting for admission to medical school to caring for astronauts. This remarkable progress was celebrated recently by the Federation of Medical Women of Canada (FMWC) as it marked its 75th anniversary.
The FMWC annual conference held 10 days ago in Ottawa featured a range of dynamic speakers -- Canada's first female dean of medicine, a crusader against teen pregnancy, an aerospace physician -- who are living proof of the progress female physicians have made. And the FMWC's look at one of medicine's most celebrated women physicians provided a valuable historical perspective.
Under the theme "Medicine in transition: The impact of women on medicine over the past century," 3 speakers looked at one of the FMWC founders, Dr. Maude Abbott (1869-1940), who achieved equality not by legislation, but through performance. Abbott, a world-famous pediatric cardiologist and pathologist, ranked with the likes of Sir William Osler for her work at McGill. In addition to her seminal publications The Atlas of Congenital Heart Disease (1936), which listed a classification of cardiac disease based on 1000 cases, Abbott published more than 100 scientific articles and was editor of the Bulletin of Pathology from 1908-36.
It was during a CMA garden party in 1924 that 7 women, including Abbott, decided to form the FMWC. The following year, 65 women took part; this year there were 200. The FMWC has asked Canada Post to issue a stamp in Abbott's honour. "She was a pioneer for us in realizing our accomplishments," said Dr. Carol Guzmán, former CMA president and its recently retired associate secretary general.
Dr. Carolyn Bennett, a Toronto MP, credits women with introducing this century's most important changes in health care, including the shift from strictly physician-focused medical care to multidisciplinary teams and hospital to community care. She urged women to stop underestimating their strength. "Let's get on with the fight."
Guzmán said the newest challenge lies in the different practice patterns of women with children. Data from the 1998 CMA Physician Resource Questionnaire show that female physicians spend an average of 48.2 hours per week caring for patients or on activities associated with providing that care. Their male their male counterparts work an average of 55.5.
"Will women be blamed for the shortfall [in the number of physicians)?" she asked. Guzmán urged the federation to develop strategies for coping with women's different practice patterns.
-- Barbara Sibbald, Ottawa
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