Stethoscopes and Headscarves: Female Medical Students in Present-Day Afghanistan

BACKGROUND: This descriptive study reviews the experiences and challenges of female medical students in Afghanistan in the post-Taliban era, addressing issues specific to them as women and also in the wider context of the practice of medicine as it currently exists in this country. METHOD: Six female students were observed on in-patient internal medicine clerkships at the National Military Hospital (NMH) in Kabul, Afghanistan. The women also participated in a structured interview used to outline their values and perceptions as females in new roles and an evolving culture. RESULTS: Responding to the structured interview questions, the women called attention to gender-neutral issues and readily identified gender discrimination, but did not embrace uniquely feminine traits in themselves nor view themselves as women physicians to any appreciable degree. CONCLUSIONS: Although women are now attending medical school and practicing medicine again, their integration into Afghan culture as physicians remains at the developmental stage.