Discrimination in medicine

The BMJ careers discrimination matching scheme could help

As the current political situation in France shows, discrimination is rife. So why should the situation in medicine be any different? The 50 rapid responses to our recent editorial on racism in medicine are proof that discrimination in medicine is alive and well.1 This is hardly surprising in a culture where a consultant surgeon thinks there is nothing wrong in saying to a junior: “You are not operating on bloody Nigerians here. You are operating on normal human beings.”2

But discrimination has many forms, not just racial. At a time where more than 60% of students applying to British medical schools are female, only 6% of consultant surgeons are women. 3 4 In addition, over 90% of women want to work part …