Gender homophily in preferences for physicians

Abstract

Gender homophily in physician preference (desire for a physician of the same sex) and more general homophily preferences (race, religion, and gender) were investigated among a population of college undergraduate and health professional students for a variety of health problems. Findings indicated that gender homophily preference was stronger for men than for women. However, the preferences may not reflect antifemale physician prejudice, particularly “self-prejudice” of women clients. Male preferred their doctors to be men significantly more than did females, regardless of the health problem. More serious health problems requiring greater physician skill (cancer, heart disease) did not produce significantly greater preference for males than problems requiring a lesser amount of skill. It appeared that health problems requiring a greater degree of physical intimacy (e.g., complete physical exam, gynecological or prostate problem) or psychological intimacy (e.g., emotional problem) produced greater homophily preference. Whether or not the student had had experience in clinical settings as a preprofessional or professional student did not have an impact on homophily preferences. Implications for the future delivery of health care, especially increased numbers of women in medicine, are discussed.