Medical Council celebrates the contribution of women to medicine and patient advocacy on International Womens Day_March
9,869 women doctors on the Medical Register in Ireland
***Key Facts***
• 9,869 women on the Medical Council register today
• 42% of women are on the Specialist Register
• A further 15.5% of women are on the Specialist Training Register
• 68.4% of women on the register received their medical education in Ireland
• 11.5% of women on the register received their medical education in another EU member State/EEA country
• 20.1% of women on the register received their medical education outside the EU
Friday, 8th March 2019: The President of the Medical Council, Dr Rita Doyle, has today marked International Women’s Day by acknowledging the important contribution of women in medicine and patient advocacy.
Speaking today, Dr Doyle said “As a young medical student in college I was inspired by the pioneering women in medicine of the past and today, as a GP for over 30 years, I am inspired by the women in medicine today.”
“Over the years we have seen growing numbers of women qualifying as doctors and entering into the medical profession. Increasing numbers of women doctors are furthering their training and qualifying as specialists, broadening the experiences and knowledge of the profession.”
“I recently spoke to 3rd year medical students and the enthusiasm and commitment I witnessed from the young women, and the young men, filled me with hope for the future of the medical profession.”
“Today more supports and flexibility exist to allow women the same opportunities to progress in medicine as men, but more can always be done. Significant progress has been made at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels to address the barriers of old.”
“It is not only in medicine that we see inspirational women, we have seen women taking on roles as powerful and strong patient advocates, often out of tragic or distressing incidents.”
“Women like Margaret Murphy, Loraine Walsh and Vicky Phelan continue to inspire us, speaking up and fighting for patient rights.”
“Like thousands of other women doctors around the country, I will be celebrating International Women’s Day by caring for my patients.” concluded Dr Doyle.
As of today, there are 23,301 doctors active on the register. While men outnumber women on the Medical Council register of medical practitioners, there are proportionately more women than men on the specialist division of the register, 42% of all women in comparison to 41.3% of all men on the register, reflecting a growing proportionate professional parity.
There are proportionately more Irish trained female doctors (68.4%) than Irish trained male doctors (50%) on the register, while there are 22% more women than men in Trainee Specialist division of the register. This indicates a bright future ahead for women and their representation in medicine in Ireland at the highest level.
ENDS