Farhan Hasan Ali, Dakhil Zainab Atiyah
Scientific Council of Cardiology, Iraqi Board for Medical Specializations- Baghdad Heart Centre, Baghdad, Iraq.
Department of Medicine, Al-Kindy College of Medicine, University of Baghdad, Baghdad, Iraq.
Egypt Heart J. 2020 Jul 27;72(1):45. doi: 10.1186/s43044-020-00078-w.
Healthcare workforce should mirror the population in representing patients' diversity; however, in certain medical specialties like cardiology, there is a significant under-representation of females in fellowship programs. There is limited data discussing this issue in the Middle East, and up to our knowledge, no prior literature has cast a light on this subject in Iraq.
Women represent not a minority but rather a negligible proportion of cardiologists in the Middle East, in general, and in Iraq, in particular, as over two decades, recruiting females in cardiology training never progressed. Women are facing many challenges that explain this gender gap, mainly work-life balance and risk of exposure to radiation in addition to society's perceptions in the Middle East that underestimate women in interventional specialties.
Serious efforts and forward steps should be taken by decision makers in cardiology fellowship programs and national cardiology societies to bridge this gender gap in order to improve cardiovascular care for both genders regardless of social barriers and traditional customs and to offer more access of care to those female patients who wish to be treated by female doctors based on their personal convictions.
医疗保健劳动力应反映出患者群体的多样性；然而，在某些医学专科领域，如心脏病学，女性在专科培训项目中的占比严重不足。中东地区关于这一问题的数据有限，据我们所知，此前尚无文献探讨伊拉克的这一问题。
总体而言，在中东地区，尤其是伊拉克，女性心脏病专家所占比例微不足道，而非少数群体，因为二十多年来，心脏病学培训中招收女性的情况从未有过进展。女性面临诸多导致这一性别差距的挑战，主要是工作与生活的平衡以及辐射暴露风险，此外还有中东社会对介入专科女性的低估看法。
心脏病学专科培训项目的决策者和国家心脏病学学会应认真努力并采取积极措施来弥合这一性别差距，以便无论社会障碍和传统习俗如何，都能改善两性的心血管护理，并为那些基于个人信念希望由女医生治疗的女性患者提供更多就医机会。
