BMJ  2004;329:742-743 (25 September), doi:10.1136/bmj.329.7468.742-c

Letter

Women in medicine

Doctors of both sexes are seeking balance between life and work

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

EDITOR—The Medical Women's Federation supports Heath's statement in her editorial that all occupations should seek to mirror the demography of society.¹ Child care support at levels found in Scandinavian countries would greatly support women in medicine to achieve their potential. However, access to flexible training at specialist registrar level, which is highly variable by region and speciality, needs to be improved.²

Many female doctors (and their male partners, many of whom are also doctors) have or wish to have families, and hours of work and working conditions are a key factor in the career choices made by young doctors.³ Career paths for men and women doctors must allow for flexibility in the early years for a less than 24 hour commitment to medicine. Young children grow up rapidly, and in a working life of 40 years women doctors can easily achieve and function effectively in top posts and . . . [Full text of this article]

Medical Women's Federation, MWF Central Office, London WC1H 9HX selena.gray@uwe.ac.uk

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