I'm seeing some pushback against the #DoctorsAreDickheads hashtag, so let me tell you a story. 1/x
A few years ago, my wife went to the ER with excruciating pain in her abdomen. Her anguish was downplayed and ignored for over 12 hours. She ended up losing her ovary. It was a traumatizing experience. I wrote about it here: theatlantic.com/health/archive… #DoctorsAreDickheads
Reporting the piece, I was stunned to find out how dramatically unequal medical treatment can be. The simple fact is this: Women don’t receive the same quality of care that men do. #doctorsaredickheads
Let’s be specific. It starts with pain management: Men wait an average of 49 minutes before receiving an analgesic for acute abdominal pain. Women wait an average of 65 minutes for the same thing.
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.111… #doctorsaredickheads
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.111… #doctorsaredickheads
Why would that be? Just read through #doctorsaredickheads: women are sharing stories of their pain being minimized, overlooked, disregarded as melodramatic. This is a hurdle men don’t have to overcome. When men say it hurts, it must really *hurt*.
It’s not just anecdotal. Many ERs aren’t equipped to handle specifically female pain. Most don’t have OB-GYNs on the floor. Rachel was treated for hours as though she had kidney stones—because the male doctor who diagnosed her didn’t know to read her body. #doctorsaredickheads
Of course, doctors *should* be equally well-versed in both male and female bodies. In practice, they’re not. #doctorsaredickheads
In cardiology school, for instance, doctors train on male bodies. The “normal” body is male. But heart attacks present differently in women. And so their symptoms aren’t recognized as readily. #doctorsaredickheads
In clinical practice, this is called the "Yentl Syndrome." And, as a result, more women than men die annually from ischaemic heart disease. #doctorsaredickheads academic.oup.com/eurheartj/arti…
The situation is similar in other areas of medicine. To receive equal treatment, women first must prove they are as sick as men. #doctorsaredickheads
After publishing the essay, I heard from more women than I can count, mostly complete strangers. “Until I read the piece,” they say, “I thought I was the only one. But it happened to me *the exact same way*.” #doctorsaredickheads
As a man, I was shocked to discover how common this experience—what Rachel calls “the trauma of not being seen”—really was. #doctorsaredickheads
It’s now years later. I’m still getting letters. These are women who suffered irreversible damage to their bodies because their symptoms weren’t taken seriously. Each one breaks my heart. #doctorsaredickheads
I got another kind of letter, too. These were from doctors, always men. “This story could not possibly have happened the way you describe it,” those letters said. “What you depict is not realistic.” #doctorsaredickheads
And there you have it: The instinct to minimize, to deflect, to insist the experts always know best. #doctorsaredickheads
(I received other, supportive letters from doctors, too—both women and men—who acknowledged Rachel’s suffering, and the tragic ubiquity of pain like hers.) #doctorsaredickheads
Some are saying that the hashtag #doctorsaredickheads is counterproductive, because it's general and rude. Maybe. But I think the rudeness is part of the point: Women, when they're expressing profound physical agony to health pros, are routinely expected to be *polite*.
(Here's an MD saying as much.) 
But I don't think this hashtag means to blame *all* drs. Instead, it seems it's trying to say: “The medical establishment generally does not serve women as well as men. Here is how that systemic bias hurt me. Here is why I cannot trust the system.” #doctorsaredickheads
Because their work has such high stakes, doctors and health professionals must do even more—individually, and as a profession—to overcome the gender bias that is pervasive in our culture. #doctorsaredickheads
The body is mysterious. Things go wrong. But women should expect medical treatment on par with what men get, and should expect their symptoms treated with empathy and urgency. Until that is the norm, the hashtag might be crude—but the criticism is valid. #doctorsaredickheads
I think most people recognize that doctors and health professionals work hard. They’re well-trained. In general, they care. But just because the profession is heroic doesn’t mean it is beyond reproach. #doctorsaredickheads
The main thing I learned from Rachel’s experience is this: It is easy for an expert to talk you out of what you know is true. Deep down, I *knew* something was very wrong. I was talked out of it. Next time, I’ll do more to listen to that voice. #doctorsaredickheads
Doctors are experts of the body. But you are an expert—the only one in the world—in how it feels to be you. Medical professionals need to honor that singular voice, respect the power it has to guide them. Your voice is where their work begins. #doctorsaredickheads /end
PS: People are rightly pointing out that the problems described in this thread are compounded further by race, gender identity, disability. Absolutely. That's a critical part of the discussion that can't be left out.
