Dr. Aparna Govil Bhasker

©Dr. Aparna Govil Bhasker

As a medical professional, I interact with numerous individuals on a daily basis. While their primary reason for visiting me is related to medical or surgical concerns, I consider it a privilege to gain a brief insight into their lives during the limited time they spend with me.

Yesterday, I met Aisha (name changed), a 35-year-old woman seeking treatment for a ventral hernia. Engaging in conversations with my patients is a practice I deeply value, a habit instilled in me by my professor during my postgraduate years. He always emphasized that a simple conversation could unveil many a hidden diagnosis. This approach has become an enduring part of my practice, and I find great satisfaction in these conversations with my patients, gaining a deeper understanding not only of their disease but also of their life-stories.

During my conversation with Aisha, I discovered that she was a mother of seven children. The revelation took me by surprise when she shared that her last pregnancy resulted in quintuplets. Initially expecting a third child, they were unexpectedly blessed with five at once. Consequently, her family now includes an 11-year-old daughter, a 7-year-old son, and five 3-year-old daughters. The idea of having five three-year-old, little girls together is heartwarming but daunting at the same time. Raising a single child is demanding enough, so I can only imagine the immense challenges of raising five toddlers simultaneously. I presumed that Aisha’s primary focus must be on caring for her children, leaving little time for her own well-being. My concern deepened as I contemplated her post-operative period, wondering if she would have sufficient time to rest and recover.

Approaching the end of our consultation, Aisha caught me offguard with a question that stumped me. She wanted to know the duration of leave she would need from “work”. I had assumed that, with the responsibility of caring for her numerous young children, she must be a stay-at-home mother. Contrary to my well-intentioned assumptions, I discovered that Aisha was not only a devoted mother but also a highly accomplished professional in the finance industry in her country. I found myself not only surprised by Aisha’s profound passion for her profession but at the same time, was taken aback by the level of judgement and assumptions I had unconsciously made about another woman.

As I write this article, it has been almost 24 hours since I met Aisha. Throughout the hustle and bustle of yesterday, Aisha has continued to stay in my thoughts As, a lady surgeon, I have myself faced similar biases at different points in my life and career, and have actively worked to resist them. Yet, here I was, grappling with the same shortcomings that I have criticized the society for at times.

This incident served as an illustration of the profound nature of our own implicit biases. Despite being a woman and a working professional, I came to the realization that I, too, had fallen prey to the same biases and passive gender roles embedded in our society. Unfortunately, these biases are further perpetuated due to influences from media, political and legal systems, religious institutions, workplaces, and family networks. The cycle is completed when, unconsciously, even so-called empowered women like myself become victims of the same biases that confine us.

I spent the morning delving deeper into this issue and reading more about it. To my dismay, I realized that my experience was not unique. According to a study, around 75 percent of individuals tend to associate terms like business, profession, and work with “men,” while connecting terms like family, household, and caregiving with “women.” Recently, the Gender Social Norms Index discovered that 90% of individuals across all genders exhibit a bias against women, a statistic that worryingly remains unchanged from data collected over a decade ago. Notably, these biases pose significant obstacles for women in the realms of politics, business, and the workplace, resulting in the erosion of their rights and instances of human rights violations.

What’s even more worrying is that as the use of artificial intelligence becomes more widespread, it could reinforce these biases. AI language models draw extensively from existing publications, leading to the replication and amplification of prevailing gender biases. As Sasha Luccioni, a Research Scientist and Climate Lead at the machine learning company Hugging Face, aptly pointed out, “AI bias doesn’t emerge from thin air; it originates from the patterns we perpetuate in our societies.” Unfortunately, our societies are still struggling with the formidable challenge of attaining gender equality and remain far from its realization.

As for me, I recognized the importance of challenging my own biases and learning from the diverse experiences of my patients. The encounter with Aisha has prompted me to reassess my biases and adopt a more inclusive and empathetic perspective. Inspired by Aisha’s resilience, I am committed to advocating for a more woman-centric approach in my medical practice. I hope to explore more about the unique needs of my female patients, offering not only medical care but also a supportive environment for open discussions about their challenges and aspirations. Recognizing that personal biases are an ongoing challenge, even for a working professional woman like me, I hope to overcome them and establish a medical practice that is more inclusive and understanding.

PS: Image courtesy Bing AI