A Model for a Specialty in Women's Health

Abstract

The current debate over a specialty in women's health might profit from the example of the interdisciplinary field of Women's Studies, in which similar discussions emerged a decade ago. In addition to centering on information about women, the same questions about the history of women in higher education, the majority status of women in the population, and whether separate is equivalent to equal were considered and resolved in the autonomy versus integration debate within Women's Studies. The five-phase model developed for including Women's Studies into traditional curricula suggests that a specialty in women's health would ensure the inclusion of women and women's health in all aspects of medicine.