One of the first and most consistent findings has been that female physicians spend more time with patients than do their male colleagues. On average, female doctors spent 25.2 minutes with male patients and 29.8 minutes with female patients. Male doctors averaged only 21.3 minutes with male and 22.4 minutes with female patients. In some respects, the time that female physicians devote to their patients also seems to be better spent. Most studies show that women are more successful than men at involving patients in decisions and explaining medical terminology.
Female physicians talk more and so do their patients, so more information is exchanged.
In all these categories, women surpassed men. A study comparing female and male obstetricians published in the May 1999 Obstetrics and Gynecology found that female obstetricians laughed more with patients. This kind of research has limitations, however. When making comparisons between groups, it is important to think about the variation within those groups. With sufficient variation, characteristics of groups may overlap a great deal.