Medicine Science 2015;4(1):1895-911 The Effect of Gender on Medical Professions Özgün Araştırma Cinsiyetin Hekimliğe Etkisi Original Investigation doi: 10.5455/medscience.2014.03.8187 www.medicinescience.org | Med-Science 1895 Gender's Effect to the Profession of Medicine from the Physicians' Perspective: A Questionnaire Study [Hekim Bakış Açısı İle Cinsiyetin Hekimlik Mesleğine Etkisi] Orhan Meral 1 , Cetin Kose 2 , Ahsen Kaya 1 , Aytac Kocak 1 , Ekin Ozgur Aktas 1  Department of Forensic Medicine, Ege University Faculty of Medicine, Izmir, Turkey 2 Department of Forensic Medicine, Hacettepe University Faculty of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey Abstract The legislation on patients' rights in the world and in Turkey has guaranteed the right of choosing their health care practitioners for patients. In this study, it is aimed to evaluate the viewpoints of physician assistants of Ege University Faculty of Medicine (EUFM) about the effect of physician’s gender on choosing the physician. After taken the permission from EUFM Ethic Committee of Clinic Researches, this study was performed with 100 voluntary physician assistants who work in EUFM. In this context, a questionnaire was performed. Survey responses were evaluated with statistical program. 51 participants were males and 49 were females, the average age was 28.8±3.6. 72% expressed that gender should not be a criteria while choosing the physician. 62% of the respondents mentioned that there was an increase according to the gender of physician. 17% of physician mentioned that their gender had a negative effect to their careers. Taken cognizance of the socio-cultural structure of our country it is thought that coming to the forefront of physicians’ gender in the patients’ selection of their physicians would cause many problems in the health care system notably related to diagnosis and treatment of patients. Key Words: Patient rights, the right of choosing the physician, ethics, gender (Rec.Date: Aug 08, 2014 Accept Date: Aug 21, 2014) Corresponding Author: Orhan Meral, Department of Forensic Medicine, Ege University Faculty of Medicine, 35100 Bornova, Izmir, Turkey E-mail: orhan2534@mynet.com