The Image of the Male and Female Doctors in the Covid-19 Pandemic. The First Pandemic with Woman Doctors in the Front Line
The Image of the Male and Female Doctors in the Covid-19 Pandemic. The First Pandemic with Woman Doctors in the Front Line

Summary/Abstract: The last great pandemic, the Spanish flu of 1918, took place at a time when the number of women graduating from medical schools was still very low. Assistants, nurses, and volunteer helpers worked in military and camp hospitals in World War I in treating war wounds or injuries and caring for the flu patients. However, the COVID 19 pandemic is the first one in which female professionals participated in the front line, working as doctors or pharmacists. During turbulent times like the pandemic, the physician (regardless of gender) as a person has become vulnerable, the image and the control of image are much more difficult. Throughout history, the medical community has sought to create an image appropriate to the current social, historical, and political era. At the same time, the doctor more or less successfully forms the individual image in the local community, where he/she works. In calm periods and ages, doctors have the time and material resources necessary for their professional and individual development. During historical, political, social, and health crises (such as wars, dictatorships, recessions, epidemics) the large number of patients, the struggle with time and limited resources lead to a disorganized, spontaneous medical activity. The difference between organized and disorganized activity is the image. During the epidemics, the doctor patient relationship becomes more superficial, subordinated to public health and the collective good, the personality of the doctor and of the patient changes. For that reason, the control of image is much more complicated today, in a pandemic, in a society based on permanent communication and social media.

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