<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE article PUBLIC "-//NLM//DTD JATS (Z39.96) Journal Archiving and Interchange DTD v1.3 20210610//EN" "JATS-archivearticle1-3.dtd">
<article xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:ali="http://www.niso.org/schemas/ali/1.0/" article-type="editorial" dtd-version="1.3" xml:lang="en">
  <front>
    <journal-meta>
      <journal-id journal-id-type="publisher-id">JPSIM</journal-id>
      <journal-title-group>
        <journal-title>Journal of Pakistan Society of Internal Medicine</journal-title>
        <abbrev-title>J Pak Soc Intern Med</abbrev-title>
      </journal-title-group>
      <issn publication-format="print">2709-8729</issn>
      <issn publication-format="electronic">2710-0804</issn>
      <publisher>
        <publisher-name>Pakistan Society of Internal Medicine</publisher-name>
      </publisher>
    </journal-meta>
    <article-meta>
      <article-id pub-id-type="doi">10.70302/jpsim.v5i2.2423</article-id>
      <article-id pub-id-type="publisher-id">jpsim.v5i2.2423</article-id>
      <article-categories>
        <subj-group subj-group-type="heading">
          <subject>Editorial</subject>
        </subj-group>
      </article-categories>
      <title-group>
        <article-title>Unveiling the Obstacles Encountered by Women Doctors in the Pakistani Healthcare System and what are the Initiatives to Encourage the Women to Come Forward in Health Care System</article-title>
      </title-group>
      <contrib-group>
        <contrib contrib-type="author" corresp="yes">
          <name>
            <surname>Bukhari</surname>
            <given-names>Mulazim Hussain</given-names>
          </name>
          <email>mulazim.hussain@gmail.com</email>
          <xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1"/>
          <xref ref-type="corresp" rid="cor1">*</xref>
        </contrib>
        <contrib contrib-type="author">
          <name>
            <surname>Rizwan</surname>
            <given-names>Wajiha</given-names>
          </name>
          <xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff2"/>
        </contrib>
        <contrib contrib-type="author">
          <name>
            <surname>Kundi</surname>
            <given-names>Salma</given-names>
          </name>
          <xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff3"/>
        </contrib>
      </contrib-group>
      <aff id="aff1">
        <institution>Azad Jammu Kashmir Medical College Muzaffarabad</institution>
      </aff>
      <aff id="aff2">
        <institution>Children Hospital Lahore,</institution>
      </aff>
      <aff id="aff3">
        <institution>Women Medical and Dental College Abbottabad</institution>
      </aff>
      <author-notes>
        <corresp id="cor1">*Correspondence: Mulazim Hussain Bukhari (mulazim.hussain@gmail.com)</corresp>
      </author-notes>
      <pub-date date-type="pub" publication-format="electronic" iso-8601-date="2024-06-07">
        <day>07</day>
        <month>06</month>
        <year>2024</year>
      </pub-date>
      <pub-date date-type="collection" publication-format="electronic">
        <year>2024</year>
      </pub-date>
      <volume>5</volume>
      <issue>2</issue>
      <fpage>469</fpage>
      <lpage>471</lpage>
      <history>
        <date date-type="received" iso-8601-date="2024-02-06">
          <day>06</day>
          <month>02</month>
          <year>2024</year>
        </date>
        <date date-type="accepted" iso-8601-date="2024-04-11">
          <day>11</day>
          <month>04</month>
          <year>2024</year>
        </date>
      </history>
      <permissions>
        <copyright-statement>Copyright © 2024 The Author(s)</copyright-statement>
        <copyright-year>2024</copyright-year>
        <copyright-holder>The Author(s)</copyright-holder>
        <ali:free_to_read xmlns:ali="http://www.niso.org/schemas/ali/1.0/"/>
        <license license-type="open-access" xlink:href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">
          <ali:license_ref xmlns:ali="http://www.niso.org/schemas/ali/1.0/">https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/</ali:license_ref>
          <license-p>This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.</license-p>
        </license>
      </permissions>
      <self-uri xlink:href="https://psimj.com/article/jpsim.v5i2.2423" content-type="text/html"/>
      <self-uri xlink:href="https://psimj.com/article/jpsim.v5i2.2423.pdf" content-type="application/pdf"/>
      <abstract>
        <p>Women continue to be underrepresented in healthcare research, leading to a lack of tailored treatments for women-specific conditions and the potential for misdiagnosis in gender-neutral conditions. Female doctors in Pakistan encounter numerous challenges including gender bias, limited career opportunities, and challenges in maintaining work-life balance, hindering their professional growth and advancement. Initiatives like the Women in Medicine program and advocacy efforts by organizations like the Pakistan MedicalAssociation are crucial in fostering inclusivity and gender equality in the healthcare system. Indigenous research, guided by the 4 Rs framework, Employment opportunities for females should be enhanced, Women friendly workplaces, Laws and protection policies should be implemented and women should be encouraged to report any harassment, honours indigenous knowledge systems and addresses pertinent issues while creating a supportive work environment with flexible hours is vital for encouraging female doctors. Women should not take advantage of being women and should behave professionally. These initiatives are aimed at encouraging more women to participate in and thrive within the healthcare system in Pakistan.</p>
      </abstract>
      <kwd-group xml:lang="en" kwd-group-type="author-keywords">
        <title>Keywords</title>
        <kwd>Female doctors</kwd>
        <kwd>Obstacles encountered by women doctors in the Pakistani healthcare system Healthcare system</kwd>
        <kwd>indigenous Research</kwd>
        <kwd>Obstacles</kwd>
        <kwd>Pakistan</kwd>
        <kwd>Women doctors</kwd>
      </kwd-group>
    </article-meta>
  </front>
  <!-- <body> omitted: no manuscript (.docx) on file -->
  <back/>
</article>
