title: Women and medicine.
abstract: To date, women have been a minority of the medical workforce. Recent data have shown that this situation will soon change, with the numbers of women in medical practice exceeding the numbers of men in the near future. This article outlines the history of women in medicine; it explores some of the data published by the Royal College of Physicians of London report Women and Medicine: The Future, and other recent reports to highlight some key issues, in order to support sensible and appropriate policy decisions in relation to the changing demographic of the medical workforce.
authors.affiliation: UCL Medical School, Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT, UK. j.dacre@ucl.ac.uk
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Dacre
mesh_terms: D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000266:history; D005260:Female; D049669:History, 16th Century; D049670:History, 17th Century; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D049674:History, 21st Century; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010822:Physicians, Women / Q000266:history / Q000639:trends; D006113:United Kingdom; D000078329:Workforce