BLOG: Two women in oncology break barriers in male-dominated genitourinary oncology field

It’s easy to see genitourinary oncology as a man’s world.

Many cancers that genitourinary oncologists treat affect only men, such as prostate, testicular and penile cancers. Although bladder and kidney cancers can affect everyone, they are more commonly diagnosed in men. Unsurprisingly, the physicians who treat these diseases reflect that patient pool — they’re mostly men.

According to data from the 2021 American Urological Association Census, only 10.9% of all practicing urologists in the U.S. are women. Although that number has increased from 7.7% in 2014, growth of women in the field compared with growth in the number of urologists overall is decreasing.

Opening the field

At Moffitt Cancer Center, we are the only two women in a group of 13 physicians in the genitourinary oncology department.

We are focused on opening new opportunities for patients and offering different perspectives when it comes to care. We are also committed to seeing the field open up to more women providers.

In our experience, most patients don’t view us differently from our male colleagues. However, there are rare incidents where patients have asked to see a male provider instead.

Overall, having two women in the department creates more opportunities and choices for our female patients, and we have even had male patients ask to transfer to us because they prefer a woman’s communication style and demeanor.

Still, there are times when gender discrimination makes the job harder, especially in our training. It’s no secret that female residents are treated differently by nurses and staff. Our judgment and authority are questioned a lot more than those of a male colleague. If a male attending is straightforward when giving an order, no one questions it. If a woman has that personality, she is often labeled as difficult. The simple action of a patient calling us by our first name can also hit a nerve. It’s essentially a matter of respect, and we don’t think it happens as often to our male colleagues.

Thanks to the strong leadership and positive culture at Moffitt Cancer Center and the genitourinary oncology department, we both have only ever felt included and supported by our male colleagues here. In order for things to change in the field as a whole, though, genitourinary oncology needs more female physicians and leaders.

Importance of mentorship

Although the number of women in the genitourinary oncology field is growing, it’s growing too slowly and could take decades for the number of women to equal the number of men.

Mentorship is an essential part of this change. Mentors can encourage fellows to see the field and consider it a promising career path without feeling uncomfortable or ostracized in the male-dominated environment.

As female genitourinary oncologists, we are working to increase our presence across the country.

The Society of Women in Urology and the Women in Urologic Oncology groups continue to grow and have done tremendous work promoting female urologists in academia. ASCO has a lounge with various organized events, including mentoring sessions, during the annual meeting, and they have a Women in Oncology blog published in ASCO Connections.

For our numbers to grow, though, culture must change.

We need to continue to talk about these issues and promote introspection so people can recognize their bias toward women physicians. It won’t be easy, but we won’t give up hope. We want to one day close the gender gap, one female urologist at a time.