Women general practitioners in Oxfordshire

The proportion of women medical students is increasing as is the proportion of women trainees. However, we have found in a survey of general practices in Oxfordshire that women are still under-represented as general practitioner principals and that some women patients are seeking women doctors without success. We suggest that neither ability nor training is the problem and that there may be important difficulties for women arising from attitudes to women doctors and lack of opportunities for part-time work in general practice.