When women doctors step away

A silent attrition is hollowing out India’s healthcare workforce, with implications for patient care and equity

- SOHINI DAS

Dipali Jaju’s journey does not follow the neat arc often associated with a medical practitioner’s career. A homeopathic physician from Akola in Maharashtra who graduated in 2010, Jaju practised for a few years before moving cities after marriage. She then returned to clinical work, took a break after childbirth, retrained as an acupuncture therapist, and eventually pivoted again — this time to yoga.

Today, nearing 40, she is a yoga trainer in her hometown, a career she combines with looking after her daughter and ageing parents. “I have been a meritorious student throughout. My parents wanted me to study medicine, and I did practise homeopathy,” she said. “But circumstances kept changing. When my daughter was born, I had to go on bed-rest. Later, my mother’s health worsened and I had to take charge of the house.” She smiles when asked if she regrets stepping away from medical practice: “No regrets,” she said simply.

Jaju is not an MBBS doctor, but her story reflects a larger gender pattern playing out across India’s healthcare system — women enter medical colleges in record numbers but end up shuffling out in a silent mid-career exodus from clinical practice, leadership and research.

The vanishing half

Women account for roughly half of India’s MBBS graduates. But the pipeline thins rapidly after that. According to a joint analysis by Boston Consulting Group (BCG), a consultancy, and Dasra, a nonprofit, around 30 per cent of women drop out between completing MBBS and entering early-career practice or postgraduate training, compared with a dropout rate of 5-10 per cent for men.

Roshni Rathi, managing director and partner, BCG said India has 500,000-550,000 women medical graduates, but only 350,000-400,000 are in active practice or postgraduate training, translating to a continuation rate of 65-75 per cent, versus 90-95 per cent for men.