Fuqua School of Business professor Ryan McDevitt, with coauthor James Roberts, conducted an analysis of urologists in the United States in the years 2006 and 2009, discharged patients in Florida between January 2006 and June 2008, and cancer deaths between 2001 and 2005. The compiled data helped them better understand how the market for female urologists impacts rates of urological cancer deaths in women. They found that in counties with a lower ratio of female to male doctors, there existed higher rates of death from urological cancer for women, for example, due to women waiting longer to see a female urologist. They were also able to establish “entry thresholds” which demonstrated that a larger market size was needed to support the same number of female physicians as male physicians. They also found situations in which employing a female urologist was more likely, which included medical groups with small market shares, large medical groups, or medical groups who did not expect their competitor to employ them. The results outlined impediments to increased female representation in the field of urology. McDevitt and Roberts estimate that the number of women’s lives that could be saved far surpasses the cost of subsidizing a female physician.
