“[A] powerful account of the sexism cooked into medical care ... will motivate readers to advocate for themselves.”—Publishers Weekly STARRED Review A groundbreaking and feminist work of investigative reporting: Explains why women experience healthcare differently than men Shares the author’s journey of fighting for an endometriosis diagnosis In Pain and Prejudice, acclaimed investigative reporter Gabrielle Jackson takes readers behind the scenes of doctor’s offices, pharmaceutical companies, and research labs to show that—at nearly every level of healthcare—men’s health claims are treated as default, whereas women’s are often viewed as a-typical, exaggerated, and even completely fabricated. The impacts of this bias? Women are losing time, money, and their lives trying to navigate a healthcare system designed for men. Almost all medical research today is performed on men or male mice, making most treatments tailored to male bodies only. Even conditions that are overwhelmingly more common in women, such as chronic pain, are researched on mostly male bodies. Doctors and researchers who do specialize in women’s healthcare are penalized financially, as procedures performed on men pay higher. Meanwhile, women are reporting feeling ignored and dismissed at their doctor’s offices on a regular basis. Jackson interweaves these and more stunning revelations in the book with her own story of suffering from endometriosis, a condition that affects up to 20% of American women but is poorly understood and frequently misdiagnosed. She also includes an up-to-the-minute epilogue on the ways that Covid-19 are impacting women in different and sometimes more long-lasting ways than men. A rich combination of journalism and personal narrative, Pain and Prejudice reveals a dangerously flawed system and offers solutions for a safer, more equitable future.

Women are entering medical school in equal numbers as men, yet still face unique challenges in a profession where, overall, male physicians outnumber female physicians 3 to 1. Women in medicine also face decisions such as when to have a child during training and often struggle with work-life balance. This book features real stories and advice from mothers in medicine at all stages of training from medical student to practicing physician and addresses the topics that shape the lives, joys, and challenges of women in medicine today. The book is based on the best posts and wisdom shared on the Mothers in Medicine blog, which was established in 2008 by the editor and has published over 1500 posts and has over 4.8 million page views to date. The book is organized by themes that are unique to the physician-mother: career decisions, having children during training, navigating life challenges, practice issues, and work-life balance. Each chapter features an excerpt from the blog followed by an honest discussion of the key considerations, guidelines, and tips as related to each topic in the conversational, personal tone of the blog. The book concludes with a chapter that features the most popular questions posted on the Mothers in Medicine blog and a summary of the responses received from the community of readers. Mothers in Medicine: Career, Practice, and Life Lessons Learned is a valuable and contemporary resource for pre-medical students, medical students, residents, and physicians.

This anthology of stories, poems, essays and quotations explores the duality of being both a woman and a physician.

An unprecedented and definitive collection of rabble-rousing writings on women’s health, Voices of the Women’s Health Movement explores a range of provocative topics from reproductive rights to sexuality to motherhood. Trail-blazing advocate Barbara Seaman and health activist Laura Eldridge bring the revolutionary ideas of several generations together in this powerful new book celebrating women’s bodies, and women’s voices. The more than two hundred contributors include Jennifer Baumgardner, Susan Brownmiller, Phyllis Chesler, Angela Y. Davis, Barbara Ehrenreich, Germaine Greer, Shulamith Firestone, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Erica Jong, Molly Haskell, Shere Hite, Susie Orbach, Judith Rossner, Alix Kates Shulman, Gloria Steinem, Sojourner Truth, Rebecca Walker, Naomi Wolf, and many others. With Voices of the Women’s Health Movement, for the first time, every woman and girl can experience in one place the powerful history of stirring words and strong female perspectives that have inspired countless women to take control of their health and their lives. Volume One highlights include influential writings on birth control; menstruation; pregnancy and birthing; motherhood; menopause; abortion; and lesbian, bisexual, and transgender health.