When career and biology collide
Dr. Reshma Jagsi
“The collision of professional and biological clocks for women in medicine is an important issue highlighted by this study,” Reshma Jagsi, MD, DPhil, of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, said in an interview.
“Prior work focused on women in medicine more generally. A deeper dive into the experiences of women in a specific field may be even more compelling to drive change on the part of professional societies and organizations,” Dr. Jagsi added.
The infertility rate observed in the study could have potentially been skewed by the preponderance of younger respondents (resulting in underestimation) or by greater participation of those interested in the subject (resulting in overestimation), she noted. However, it aligns well with the rate in a study Dr. Jagsi and colleagues conducted among female physicians generally using somewhat different methods. That study was published in the Journal of Women’s Health.
Concern about radiation exposure and its potential reproductive health effects should not deter women from choosing radiation oncology as a specialty, according to Dr. Jagsi.
“Radiation exposure is actually very low in radiation oncology, much lower than in specialties like interventional cardiology, where physicians are in the room where fluoroscopy is being used. It is actually an important misconception about this field that merits correction,” she stressed. “Rather, the fertility concerns are related to the expectations of training and demands of work during the prime childbearing years more generally that can lead women to delay pregnancy, which is an issue common to all medical specialties.”
“The investigators’ conclusions are very reasonable,” Dr. Jagsi said. “Although one might quibble whether the exact proportions reflect the experiences of all women in the field perfectly due to the possibility of selection bias, one cannot question whether a substantial number of women are experiencing these challenges and that they merit intervention.”
The study did not receive specific funding. Dr. Lee and Dr. Jagsi disclosed no relevant conflicts of interest.
SOURCE: Lee A et al. ASTRO 2020, Abstract LBA 6.