[Gender plays a role in the young physicians work situation]

The purpose of this study was to examine medical interns' experiences of being a female versus a male physician in various work situations. The population consisted of interns within Umeå health care district (n=38). Data was collected using a questionnaire with open-ended questions that were analysed with qualitative content analysis. Our results revealed that the participants experienced different expectations on female and male practitioners from both patients and staff. We also found distinct experiences of discrimination of female practitioners in areas such as patient and staff conduct, service, division of labour and employment. Our conclusion is that there is a need to promote gender equality within the health care system as well as to strengthen research and education regarding gender in medicine.