Why We Need More Female Cardiologists

According to a study in the Journal of the American College of

Cardiology, women with heart disease ended up in the hospital less often and had a lower chance of premature death if their cardiologist was also a woman. Their male counterparts generally underestimated stroke risk in female patients and were less likely to prescribe intensive drug treatment for high cholesterol and high blood pressure, leading to poorer outcomes. One reason is that female doctors spend more time with patients on average and are better at picking up on subtle cues—lightheadedness or brief episodes of shortness of breath, for instance—from female patients. Additionally, female cardiologists may be more likely to recognize symptoms that present more in

women than they do in men, such as indigestion and back pain. But in the U.S., women make up only 13% of working cardiologists. To combat this phenomenon, researchers recommend encouraging more women to specialize in cardiology and also suggest increasing gender-specific education in cardiology training.