How More Women Cardiologists Could Help Women Get the Right Care

Dr. Nosheen Reza, an esteemed cardiologist, has never received CPR training on a female torso. The director of Penn Women in Cardiology, her experience of gender inequity in the field is unfortunately far from unique.

Biases, intimidation and a lack of other women in the field can make cardiovascular medicine a challenging career path for women. And because female bodies have historically been excluded from medical education and studies, women are at greater risk of facing prejudices from their providers.

In patient care, these biases can mean the difference between life and death. That’s why doctors like Dr. Reza and Dr. Danielle Spragan, a cardiac surgeon at Main Line Health, are dedicated to untangling them. “There are known disparities for both women and minorities after cardiac surgery,” Dr. Spragan says. “For us to progress as a field and provide optimal care for all patients, we need to better understand the reasons behind these discrepancies, so we can begin to combat them.”

Bettering the Patient Experience

Studies show that women who see female cardiologists tend to have better outcomes than women treated by male cardiologists, meaning women’s symptoms may be overlooked by male doctors. This problem—according to Dr. Ileana Piña, a cardiologist and director of the American Heart Association’s STEM Goes Red program—has a simple solution: listening to women.

But if health professionals lack training to identify women’s heart health risks, listening alone won’t be enough. Often, a woman’s medical history contains cues for cardiovascular risks that don’t impact men, so these risks go overlooked. “Women who have, for example, high blood pressure during pregnancy, eclampsia or preeclampsia are likely to experience heart problems earlier in life,” Dr. Piña says. To spot these risks, Dr. Piña asks thorough questions about patient history, family history and past pregnancies—which should be the standard for providers.

Bettering the Doctor Experience

Without resources and connections, being a woman in cardiology is hard— and that’s why at Penn, Dr. Reza has created Penn Women in Cardiology (PWIC). Launched in 2017, it supports women studying cardiology during medical school and residency. That support encourages retention for women in cardiology. “About 20 percent of cardiology fellows in the country are women, but at Penn, it’s over 50 percent,” Dr. Reza says.

Diversifying leadership in cardiovascular medicine benefits everyone—and that’s the same mission that the American Heart Association strives for through STEM Goes Red. Led by Dr. Piña, this program connects providers with high school students in underserved communities who are interested in the sciences. These students meet cardiologists and doctors, visit scientific exhibits and can receive grants for extracurricular studies.

“The way their eyes light up seeing these exhibits and science is so encouraging,” Dr. Piña says. And with the right support, that excitement can fuel progress in the field as a whole.