Yeah, it’s sexist and all that. But I’m envious of people with the time and energy to worry about stuff like this.

From Corriere Della Sera:

In 2017, only two doctors in ten will be male. Surgeons and urologists dwindling. Federation of medical associations warns that countermeasures must be taken.

ROME – Can you imagine a man letting himself be examined by a female urologist?

Okay, I’m imagining. I guess it could be awkward. But, yeah, I can imagine it.

In a couple of years’ time, this will be a situation that many men who are currently reluctant out of pride or embarrassment will have to accept. Italy’s medical profession is rapidly changing sex. Already, some 60% of the students at faculties of medicine and surgery are female and forecasts predict that in the next ten years, as many as eight white coats in ten will be worn by women. The topic will be on Friday’s agenda at a major conference organised at Caserta by the FNOMCEO, the federation of medical associations chaired by Amedeo Bianco.

Dr Bianco’s warning is based on figures collated by his deputy, Maurizio Bennato: “We have to address the future differently, otherwise some specialisations, especially the ones that today are single sex, will be facing a crisis. I am very much in favour of women doctors but I do admit to a certain concern. We have to design a system that will ensure quality and potential without reducing supply”. Hospital roles will be turned on their heads with beskirted doctors and nurses in trousers. For there is also a new trend in nursing. Once, nurses were female but nowadays the profession offers more promising prospects for men. Nursing is no longer just about care and has acquired a managerial, coordination-oriented focus. In other words, old-style ward sisters are on the way out.

See, I find the image of a “beskirted” doctor appealing. Why can’t a female doctor, or CEO for that matter, wear a dress? And not just any dress, but a decorative colorful one? If I was waiting in fear of test results or some sort of diagnosis, I can tell you that the image of a woman walking in with a big smile in a dress with lilacs printed all over it, it could help settle my nerves.

Okay, so let’s say I accepted that this anticipated disparity is a problem. I’m a young, intelligent, heterosexual Italian man thinking about med school. The women in med school are going to outnumber men 4 to 1? I mean, if that perk isn’t an incentive, I don’t know what is!

I tell you, I was born a couple of decades too early!

Photo comes from the Witch Doctor.  Youth is so wasted on the young!

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