The importance of physician gender in the selection of an obstetrician or a gynecologist

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to determine the importance of gender in the selection of an obstetrician or a gynecologist. STUDY DESIGN: At a university-based hospital, 46 patients after delivery and 79 patients after gynecologic surgery who had selected their physician within the previous year were interviewed to determine the importance of physician gender in the selection of an obstetrician or gynecologist. Chi-square test, Fisher exact test, and the Student t test were used for statistical analysis. RESULTS: Of the 125 women who were surveyed, 52.8% of the women preferred a female physician, 9.6% of the women preferred a male physician, and 37.6% of the women stated no gender preference, with no significant difference between the obstetric and gynecologic groups, The groups were similar with respect to ranking the importance of gender; 24.8% of the women who were interviewed considered gender to be one of the 3 most important factors in the selection of a physician. When participants were asked to choose gender over physician experience, bedside manner, or competency, gender was selected by 12%, 10.4%, and 0.8%, respectively, with no significant differences between the groups. CONCLUSION: For most women, physician gender is not of primary importance in the selection of an obstetrician or gynecologist.