JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated gender inequity in medicine, with women physicians reporting greater household responsibilities than their male counterparts and steeper barriers to career advancement. To explore system-level solutions towards equity and well-being in our field, our key aim was to characterize the workplace experience of women oncologists during the pandemic. Data was collected across a diverse sample of women oncologists including both academic and community, caregivers and non-caregivers, and across career age points. Key points include that the pandemic impacted respondents’ job responsibilities and career trajectories, with 33.7% (33/99) either assigned or volunteered to perform additional clinical duties and 20.2% of women oncologists stating they already had left or were exploring options to leave clinical practice due to the pandemic. Furthermore, among those with school-aged children, 49.5% (46/93) of women oncologists noted that they incorporated virtual learning into their care but did not reduce their hours to do so. Finally, in terms of mental health, 69.2% (63/91) reported feeling somewhat or more significantly depressed during the first six months (March 2020 – August 2020) of the pandemic, 86.8% (79/91) perceived some or more significant anxiety, and 80.2% (73/91) experienced moderate to significant burnout. Our findings highlight areas of opportunity to optimize the workplace experience of the oncology workforce and to invest in the professional well-being and sustainability of women physicians in oncology as a step for global workplace equity and future pandemic preparedness.