Women in medicine in Montes Claros-MG: gender repercussions on the professional trajectory

Abstract

This study focuses on the qualitative part of a quanti-qualitative research, whose objective is to know the professional trajectory of some women doctors in the city of Montes Claros (state of Minas Gerais, Brazil). Four doctors were interviewed who had graduated for more than thirty years and who worked in the city. We opted for the analysis of narratives, the interview being the research instrument. The Ethics Committee of the State University of Montes Claros - Unimontes, opinion No. 1,501,700 / 2016, approved the research. It was found that, in addition to the pioneering spirit that opened space for women in the medical profession, the medical interviewees made important contributions to montesclarense society, through professional practice. However, because they entered a hegemonically male professional field, they faced issues related to the current sexism in society and which was reproduced in the medical culture. This meant that they had to overcome several challenges, such as the struggle to enter and remain in medicine; facing social and ethnic-racial class discrimination; efforts to prove professional competence and to overcome the difficulties of reconciling personal life and professional performance. Such findings point to the need for medical, educational and training institutions to promote the development of a gender-based and ethical-racial medical culture.