For the first time ever there are more women doctors than men in the UK, new figures show.
Data from the medical regulator shows that as of the end of February, there were 164,440 women registered with a licence to practice, compared to 164,195 men, meaning just over half (50.04 per cent) of all doctors in the UK are women.
Leading doctors say it is a significant milestone but insist more must be done to improve training programmes and leadership pathways to improve women’s careers, which will ultimately benefit patients.
Dr Latifa Patel, chair of the British Medical Association representative body, said the public needs to appreciate that the days of only men being doctors are in the past.
“Now, it’s more likely in the NHS that you will see a woman doctor than a man,” she said.
Across the four UK countries, the General Medical Council (GMC) figures showed there were more women than men working as doctors in Scotland and Northern Ireland. While England and Wales had fewer women, the GMC expects both countries to reach parity soon.
Professor Dame Carrie MacEwen, Chair of the GMC and a consultant ophthalmologist, said it was “a significant milestone”.
“The demographics of the medical workforce are rapidly changing, and that diversity will benefit patients,” she said.
Prof MacEwen added: “But women training for careers in medicine continue to face challenges that must be acknowledged and tackled. And for those women already working as doctors there is still work to do to create supportive and inclusive workplaces, and to ensure they have access to progression opportunities, including leadership roles, so that they can have long and fulfilling careers in medicine.”
The proportion of female doctors by speciality also varied, according to the GMC data.
Nearly two-thirds of obstetricians and gynaecologists are women, and women also dominate paediatrics and general practice.
But women remain underrepresented in several specialities, including occupational medicine, emergency medicine, ophthalmology, and surgery.
There were almost no female doctors when the medical register first opened in 1859, and the figure remained static for decades until it started creeping up from the turn of the century.
There was a rapid increase in the number of women doctors on the register from the 1970s, which has now led to more female doctors than men on the UK register.
In 2023/24, the GMC said 60 per cent of the student intake at medical schools across the UK was female.
Dr Patel said it was hard to pin down exactly why more women were studying medicine and becoming doctors, but part of the reason was the fact young women were seeing more women do it.
“The more women you see reaching that goal, the more reasonable it seems,” she said.
Dr Patel is also a paediatric respiratory resident and loves her job, but said it was challenging balancing work and life: she has a four-year-old and a one-year-old with her husband, who is also a doctor.
“The current system was not designed for women,” she said, adding there was no give in the system, and nursery care out of hours was all but impossible to come by.
“Retaining women doctors in the workplace, in the NHS and happy and fulfilled in their roles, must be a priority,” she said.
Professor Scarlett McNally, President of the Medical Women’s Federation and a surgeon, said there were clear areas that could be improved upon including through improving postgraduate training.
“This has too few training posts, rigid rotations and excessive administrative workload – which all need improving, especially as it often coincides with pregnancy and early-years parenting,” Prof McNally said.
She added: “NHS clinical leadership roles should be advertised with realistic time and role-share options, to get the best leaders and good teamworking. We must all value women doctors as an excellent untapped talent and stop waiting for a mythical knight in shining armour.”
