CANADA: More Senior Women Are Practising Medicine

HAMILTON, Ontario (CanWest News Service), October 25, 2007: More and more women are practising medicine in Canada, says a new Canadian Institute for Health Information report. One of the most noteworthy statistics is the growth rate of female physicians over a five-year period. Between 2002-06 the number of women doctors in Canada grew by about 13 per cent, while the rate for their male counterparts was just under one per cent. Women are gaining ground in what was once a male-dominated profession and by 2006, women made up more than a third of the physician workforce (33.3 per cent) CIHI reported. The CIHI report showed that like Canada's workforce generally, doctors are getting older and approaching retirement. The number of doctors aged 60 and over increased by 28 per cent between 2002-06. In 2006, the average age of the physician workforce was 49 years old. By Meagan Fitzpatrick © 2007 CanWest Interactive,