Unwin, Emily Armandine;
(2020)
Gender differences in the professional performance of doctors practising in the UK.
Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), UCL (University College London).
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Abstract
Throughout this thesis I aim to address the research question “is there a gender difference in doctors’ professional performance, and if so why?” Professionalism is at the core of delivering good medical care. Most doctors pursue their medical careers without complaints that question their professionalism and even fewer have action taken against their medical registration; however, previous research suggests certain groups of doctors – including men – are referred more often to the medical regulator. I explored the research question through six quantitative studies: 1. Multivariate analyses of administrative data from the UK medical register to investigate the relationship between gender and having sanctions imposed. 2. Systematic review and meta-analysis to quantify the association between gender and medico-legal action. 3. Multivariate analyses of results of a clinical postgraduate medical examination to investigate the association between gender and pass rates. 4. Systematic review and meta-analysis of postgraduate examination performance to investigate the association with gender. 5. Administrative data linkage study of General Practitioners’ performance at an examination designed to assess doctors under investigation for fitness to practise concerns, by gender. 6. Path analysis of longitudinal survey data of doctors to investigate whether empathy, communication style and personality mediate the association between gender and sanctions. Female doctors were less likely to have experienced medico-legal action and performed better on average than male doctors at clinical postgraduate medical examinations, suggesting that the skills highly valued in clinical examinations may be protective. Empathy, communication style or personality were not significantly correlated with sanctions, however, gender differences were present. As pressure continues to grow on our health system it is important to support our medical workforce. Gaining a clearer understanding of the doctors who have fitness to practise concerns will better enable the medical community to support and enhance the professional performance of all doctors.
| Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Qualification: | Ph.D |
| Title: | Gender differences in the professional performance of doctors practising in the UK |
| Event: | UCL |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | Copyright © The Author 2020. Original content in this thesis is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) Licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Any third-party copyright material present remains the property of its respective owner(s) and is licensed under its existing terms. Access may initially be restricted at the author’s request. |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Medical Sciences > UCL Medical School |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10091073 |
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