A Texas physician is under fire after his response to a survey question was slammed for being sexist.
Dr. Gary Tigges, a Plano-based internal medicine specialist, offered an apology Sunday after he ignited a scathing backlash to his sexist survey response to the Dallas Medical Journal, KHOU reported.
The doctor was one of 7,500 physicians asked by the Journal about whether they believed the gender gap existed in their profession. In an article titled “Women in Medicine” in the September issue of the Journal, Tigges pronounced that “female physicians do not work as hard” as their male counterparts and this could be due to their priorities.
Hi Gary. This comment is not accurate or helpful and says to me you need some re-education for the sake of women you work with and treat. Also why Dallas Medical Journal published this in 2018 is beyond me #ILookLikeASurgeon #NotCoolGary pic.twitter.com/btjVUJd9J6
— Dr Nikki Stamp FRACS (@drnikkistamp) September 1, 2018
“Yes, there is a pay gap. Female physicians do not work as hard and do not see as many patients as male physicians,” he wrote. “This is because they choose to, or they simply don’t want to be rushed, or they don’t want to work the long hours. Most of the time, their priority is something else… family, social, whatever. Nothing needs to be ‘done’ about this unless female physicians actually want to work harder and put in the hours. If not, they should be paid less. That is fair.”
Tigges was immediately lit up on social media, eventually taking down his Twitter account.
@DallasCMS In the Women in Medicine issue Dr Tigges is quoted voicing his misogynistic view of his women colleagues. The title of the page is “Big and Bright Ideas”, but his is definitely not bright. This is how men convince themselves that discrimination against women is okay. pic.twitter.com/0pUTHIabzW
— Mary Quiceno, MD (@MQUICE) September 1, 2018
This is Gary. He’s on Twitter @garytigges ?? Let him know what you think! #womeninmedicine pic.twitter.com/Bmtsw83bUB
— Susan Hingle (@SusanHingle) September 1, 2018
Dear @GaryTigges,
No. Just no.
Sincerely, #WomenInMedicine https://t.co/Ljwbifqn2m
— Michael Sinha MD, JD, MPH (@DrSinhaEsq) September 1, 2018
Hi Gary. This comment is not accurate or helpful and says to me you need some re-education for the sake of women you work with and treat. Also why Dallas Medical Journal published this in 2018 is beyond me #ILookLikeASurgeon #NotCoolGary pic.twitter.com/btjVUJd9J6
— Dr Nikki Stamp FRACS (@drnikkistamp) September 1, 2018
Dear Gary Tigges, You have officially ticked off not just every intelligent physician – male and female – but a whole lot of #genetic counselors and #patients too. My #mother is a #Physician, many of my most valuable physician colleagues and friends are #female. You are #sexist pic.twitter.com/iWngR7peew
— Ellen T. Matloff (@MyGeneCounsel) September 1, 2018
This is Dr. Gary Tigges. Internal Medicine in Plano Texas. He is a sexist misogynist and a disgrace to our profession. These are his views recently published in the Dallas Medical Journal. Let’s make him [email protected] pic.twitter.com/z9GllpkR5Q
— Faizah Bhatti (@faizahbhatti) September 1, 2018
If anyone knows Dr. Gary Tigges in Plano, TX, please tell him that he’s just pissed off a few thousand HARD WORKING women physicians. Because, you know, quotes like this tend to get shared a lot on social media. pic.twitter.com/IxmQ1yRoVS
— Alethea Allen, MD (@AletheaAllen) September 1, 2018
In this morning’s @dallasnews, Dr Tigges says he didn’t know his gross misconceptions would be made public. I’m glad that they were, so that we can have an important conversation educating those who really do not understand the #GenderPayGap. Thx, Gary. We’ll take it from here. pic.twitter.com/yR09XWiTfz
— Mara Antonoff, MD (@maraantonoff) September 2, 2018
If nothing else, his confession should work out well in court for any female physicians Dr. Gary Tigges ever denied a raise, promotion, or credentialing. #areyoufromthepast https://t.co/QZITGqYofa
— Amber Lee (@AmberLeeMD) September 1, 2018
Gary Tigges IM, I can’t believe you signed your name to that. I am floored by your ignorance and misogyny. But mostly enraged. #WomenInMedicine #changethesystem
— mrs muurMD (@miller4lite) September 1, 2018
The 53-year-old doctor is one of three physicians – one being a woman – at the Plano practice he founded in 1996. He claimed his comments were misconstrued and that he did not know his response would become public, according to the Dallas News.
“My response sounds terrible and horrible and doesn’t reflect what I was really trying to say,” Tigges said. “I’m not saying female physicians should be paid less, but they earn less because of other factors.”
“Women might take longer with their patients, and that’s a great thing, but then their pay is less,” he said. “That’s something we have to deal with every day; you have to work out that balance. Every physician wrangles with that. But it was not my intention to say female physicians are lazy or don’t work as hard.”
Tigges heard from “several trusted female physician colleagues who disagree with and are deeply hurt and offended” by his comments, he shared in a statement on the Plano Internal Medicine Associates website, where he apologized to “all female physicians” and to his partners and staff at Plano Internal Medicine.
“I now understand more clearly how intricate this issue is and that there are ways we can work together to resolve these disparities,” he said. “I have worked closely with numerous female physicians for nearly three decades and have witnessed nothing but compassion, diligence and professionalism.”
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