Succeeding through sexism

The unfair treatment of women in the workplace has been brought into the spotlight in recent years, but casual sexism still exists in many industries. Dr Niamh O’Brien opened up about her experiences with discrimination in the medical field.

Niamh O’Brien is a Galway-based GP who started her own practice seven years ago. “I had always had a significant ambition of owning my own practice,” she said. “That was always my goal.”

O’Brien started her training in medicine in 1996, qualified in 2002 and then went on to do another four years of training in a GP training programme. During that time, she had her first two daughters. “My second maternity leave was extended because my daughter Lucy was born with a significant disability,” she said.

Lucy was born with an extreme form of brittle-bone disease known as Osteogenesis Imperfecta in Portiuncula Hospital, Ballinasloe. In the face of this challenge, O’Brien considered not returning to work. “Every young mum is vulnerable, and when your child has additional needs, you’re even more vulnerable,” she said. “I did certainly look at myself and say, ‘can I go back to work at all?’”

She even asked her daughter’s paediatrician if she should return to the working world. The doctor told her that she should, as she was both highly qualified and loved the work she did. “Actually, that was the best advice,” O’Brien said.

However, returning to training wouldn’t be that simple for O’Brien. Her confidence took a massive hit after she had been off for a number of months. She contacted the practice she was working in as part of her studies to try to re-familiarise herself with everything, even the computer systems.

She was told that she had been allocated additional out-of-work hours, which she considered to be an unfair number of shifts. O’Brien said, “I remember getting this sense of, they really don’t understand what I’m dealing with at home. I felt they weren’t bothered about my situation.”

She realised she couldn’t work in a place that gave her so little support and contacted the director of her training programme. “I remember ringing up and saying, ‘I have to be in an environment where there’s a level of understanding. I’m just too vulnerable at the moment,’” she said.

In December 2008, her daughter Lucy had contracted an infection and needed ventilation. On Christmas Eve, she was transferred to Temple Street Hospital. O’Brien said, “It was a very stressful time with a very sick child, but luckily I had a really great trainer and mentor, who remains a mentor to me to this day.”

However, O’Brien was still facing casual sexism in the GP field. On a night out in Galway around Christmas in her final year of training, they met with another practice. She began speaking with an older male who worked there about her plans to someday enter a partnership or start her own practice.

“He gave me a very holier-than-thou speech about how female GPs were only ever interested in working part-time and not fully committing to general practice. I took huge offence, was very close to tears, and was doing my best to defend myself and my gender. I really was quite disgusted,” she said.

She has crossed paths with this doctor since, but has never confronted him about his comments. However, her dreams came true in 2013 when she co-founded ‘Galway Family Doctors’. “It has given me great satisfaction that I now own my own practice,” she said.

In Ireland, 42 per cent of doctors and 50.5 per cent of GPs are women, according to a report by the Irish Medical Organisation in 2017. This being said, 10.4 per cent of female GPs have experienced gender-based bullying in the last two years. Only 1.1 per cent of male GPs have had the same experience.

While women are almost equally represented across the medical field currently, sexist treatment is still an issue for a significant amount of female medical professionals. O’Brien agrees that while this is a problem, she has found that she has been supported by her male colleagues for the most part.

She said, “I have been blessed with some excellent mentors over the years, female and male. A former GP partner and one of my GP trainers have stayed in regular contact with me since we worked together and they have provided steadfast support, encouragement and advice over the years.”

For more information about gender equality in the workplace or if you have been discriminated against in your workplace, you can seek advice from the Workplace Relations Commission at workplacerelations.ie.