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“We Want to Talk to a Male Doctor”
“Doctor sahiba (madam), with all due respect, are there any senior doctors here?” asked the patient’s attendants. Me, the naïve one, thought maybe they wanted to meet with the head of the department.
I responded, “Yes, there is, but he is in a meeting right now. If you don’t mind, can I ask why you want to meet him?”
“Oh we just want to discuss the treatment plan with him,” said the father of MY patient.
“But I’m the doctor in charge here. You can discuss the details with me,” I replied.
“No, we want to talk with a SENIOR doctor,” he responded.
“Sir, I’m the most senior doctor on duty today and I’m here to answer your every question,” I answered.
He insisted, “Madam, dekhain (look), we want to talk with a male doctor please”
All of a sudden it dawned upon me that yes, we are living in this patriarchal society where regardless of all the education and experience I have, I will still be looked down upon just because I have XX chromosomes and lack an oh-so-important Y chromosome.
This was not a one-time-only story being a female doctor, and cherry on the top being a surgeon, this is a daily occurrence. Surgery is still considered a male-dominated medical field and with the evolving times people are still not…
