Abstract:

A patient concerned about his/her health expects to be seen by a doctor who is a professional in his/her field. Patients’ expectations are growing, so they are more eager to judge. They evaluate the doctor's level of knowledge, his/her professional experience and soft competences, e.g. in the area of communication and empathy. It is difficult remain objective when it comes to one’s own health or even life. Therefore, it may happen that the assessment of a doctor may be influenced by the patient's emotions and other factors. Is one of them the doctor’s sex? The author of this paper attempted to find an answer to this question.

Therefore, the aim of the research was to learn how patients evaluate the medical knowledge, professional experience and soft skills of a doctor depending on their gender. Is there gender (in)equality in the way patients perceive the professionalism of medical staff? In order to find answers to the research questions, the author prepared a description of an example professional situation in which the main role was played by a doctor - depending on the questionnaire - a female doctor or a male doctor. Under the description there were identical questions in each questionnaire, probing questions concerning an assessment of the doctor's knowledge, experience and soft skills. Half of the respondents received the questionnaire in which the main role was played by a female doctor, and the other half of the respondents received the questionnaire in which the main character was a male doctor.

Conclusions from the research facilitated formulation of specific recommendations, useful mainly to physicians. However, these guidelines can also be useful for management of health organisations, health campaigners and all those with an interest in gender equality.

Keywords:

Assessment of doctors’ professionalism, gender equality in medical professions, management of healthcare organisations, perception of doctors.