Patient Preferences for the Gender of Their Endoscopist: Implications for the Increasing Female Workforce in Gastroenterology

Aims Gastroenterology has traditionally been a male-dominated field. Recently, there has been a marked increase in the number of women in gastroenterology. The aims of this study were to determine the patient preferences for the gender of their endoscopist and satisfaction with endoscopy.

Methods Consecutive subjects≥18 years old completed an anonymous questionnaire prior to their outpatient endoscopy. Data collected included demographics and patient preferences for the gender of their endoscopist. Prior to discharge from the endoscopy suite, they completed a post-procedure questionnaire that assessed their satisfaction with endoscopy

Results A total of 142 subjects (mean age 62.0±11.8 years) had an endoscopic procedure performed by a female (55.6%) or male (44.4%) gastroenterologist. Overall, 24.6% of patients preferred a female gastroenterologist, 16.2% preferred a male gastroenterologist, and 59.2% had no preference. Female patients were significantly more likely to have a preference for the gender of their endoscopist as compared with male patients (76.5% vs. 36.0%, p=0.001) and were significantly more likely to prefer a female endoscopist (64.7% vs. 19.2%, p<0.001). Among women who preferred a female endoscopist, the reasons cited included less embarrassment with a female doctor (100.0%), a female endoscopist is gentler than a male (72.7%), but none cited that a female endoscopist has more expertise than a male. Among men who preferred a male endoscopist, the reasons cited included less embarrassment with a male doctor (81.0%), a male endoscopist has more expertise than a female (33.3%), and a male endoscopist is gentler than a female (9.5%). In order to get the gender of their preference, women were more likely than men to be willing to wait≥7 days (35.3% vs. 15.2%, p=0.04) and to wait≥15 minutes the day of their endoscopy (64.7% vs. 40.8%, p=0.06), but would not avoid having their endoscopy (5.9% vs. 6.4%, p=0.93). Overall, women were less likely than men to rate their endoscopic experience as very good to excellent (64.7% vs. 85.6%, p=0.03). Of the patients who had a gender preference, those who had their gender of choice for the endoscopy were significantly less likely to prefer a different gender in the future (0.0% vs. 68.4%, p<0.001).

Conclusions Women are more likely to have a preference for the gender of their endoscopist than men. The increasing number of female gastroenterologists may have an overall positive impact on women's satisfaction with endoscopy and, efforts should continue to recruit female physicians into the field of gastroenterology.

Conflicts of Interest

Authors do not have any conflict of interest to disclose.

Publication History

Article published online:
27 March 2025