HealthLinks Charleston Jan/Feb 2023

www. Char l es tonPhys i c i ans . com | www.Hea l thL i nksChar l es ton . com | 25 For many patients, the quality of their OB-GYN care and their preference for a woman tops their list of considerations when they search for their ideal doctor. A female OB-GYN, local patients note, identifies better with their concerns, and they are not as hard to find as they were to five to 10 years ago. Over the past few decades, more and more OB-GYN physicians are female, and this ratio is growing. Nationally, approximately 60% of practicing OB-GYNs are female, according to a 2020 report by the Association of American Medical Colleges. “There has been a steady increase in the number of female OB-GYNs in South Carolina, mirroring these national trends,” noted Dr. Berry Campbell, the immediate past president of the South Carolina OB/GYN Society. Today about half of all medical students are female. But according to the AAMC, 86% of the new physicians who have chosen OB-GYN as a specialty for their training are female. These women will become the OB-GYNs of the next 10, 20 and 30 years and possibly longer if the trend continues. Dr. Campbell sees this same trend close to home where “90% of the recent applicants for OB-GYN residency at the Medical University of South Carolina were female. In their most recent residency class, out of 20 residents, only one was male.” “My No. 1 priority in choosing an OB-GYN is finding a female. When I say that I have a concern, a woman can say that she has had the same concern or maybe has experienced a similar pain,” explained Meghan, a 53-year-old Charleston resident. “I also carefully consider the age of the practitioner, areas of specialty, office location and whether they are in the same health care system as my other providers.” Similarly, Gretchen, a Keowee Key resident in her 70s, said when considering an OB-GYN, her top priority is that the doctor is a woman. She said she will also “check their credentials RISE IN NUMBER OF WOMEN OB-GYNs MATCHES MANY WOMEN’S PRIORITIES By Lisa Wack

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