Gender concordance between family practice residents and their patients in an ambulatory-care setting

To determine whether women residents are more likely than men residents to treat female patients, the author analyzed data concerning resident-patient encounters in an ambulatory care setting from 107 family practice residents completing a university training program from 1979 through 1988. While the mean numbers of encounters for the men and women residents were similar, 70.5% of the women residents' encounters were with female patients, compared with 63.1% of men residents' encounters with female patients (p less than .0001). The women residents saw 3.6 times more female than male patients aged 13 to 20 years and 3.9 times more women than men patients aged 21 to 40. The women residents had more encounters for contraception, vaginitis, prenatal care, and health maintenance for women patients and fewer encounters for prostatic/testicular problems and health maintenance for men patients.