LONDON -- Male and female doctors across the UK went to work wearing pink on Wednesday morning to show a united front following a newspaper column that suggested the "feminisation of medicine" was partly to blame for the NHS' current woes.
#pinkwednesday is the second of two hashtags used in recent days to hit back against the article -- the first, #likealadydoc, is still going strong -- following the publication of a story in The Sunday Times in which journalist Dominic Lawson inferred that women are more likely than men to put family life ahead of their career, which he suggested was causing problems for the health service.
"Quite simply," Lawson writes, "the average male medical graduate will work full-time, while the average female won’t."
#pinkwednesday was kicked off by Roshana Mehdian -- an orthopaedic surgeon and the woman behind the #likealadydoc campaign.
"[It's] a response to Dominic Lawson's article in The Sunday Times which conflated the issue of female doctors and the junior doctor strike," she told Mashable.
DONT FORGET: #pinkwednesday tomorrow to support #likealadydoc !!! https://t.co/cJSuVbsl8E— Roshana Mehdian (@RoshanaMN) January 19, 2016
Joining in #pinkwednesday before I get into my scrubs! #likealadydoc #ILookLikeASurgeon pic.twitter.com/RBlLsiUNSI— Roshana Mehdian (@RoshanaMN) January 20, 2016
"He suggested female doctors are a problem in modern medicine, a comment which belongs in the 1800s, not in this century.
"Women in medicine are surgeons, physicians, leaders, college presidents whilst also often being wives, daughters, mothers, sisters. The fact that women achieve and contribute so greatly to medicine is nothing but a celebration for the profession.
She said the #Pinkwendnesday campaign aimed to celebrate the contributions by doctors from all sexes, backgrounds and ethnicities.
The selfies have been flooding in throughout Wednesday morning.
Covering psych, driving around north Liverpool. It's possible, despite ovaries! #likealadydoc #pinkwednesday pic.twitter.com/AS3MRd3EtL— Abi Carey (@abi_carey) January 20, 2016
#pinkwednesday #likealadydoc supporting female colleagues in all professions and industries against misogyny pic.twitter.com/vpxYpMQsHC— Mohsin C (@DrMohsinC) January 20, 2016
#pinkwednesday in Oz = Wonder Woman scrub hat and pink lipstick. Supporting women in medicine around the globe pic.twitter.com/g31dytNJwX— Dr Nikki Stamp (@drnikkistamp) January 20, 2016
The shoes have made it to the Radiology Dept! #PinkWednesday #likealadydoc #ILookLikeARadiologist pic.twitter.com/yX0oTrmE4T— radiology grump (@radiology_grump) January 20, 2016
We are all in this together. #pinkwednesday #likealadydoc pic.twitter.com/AsQKLt4nHQ— Simon Bradley (@SimonBradley8) January 20, 2016
#pinkwednesday (consultant paed on mat leave, five week baby and my mum) pic.twitter.com/RhNJLMk7qI— V Smith (@LittleDoctorVic) January 20, 2016
Happy #pinkwednesday to all doctors out there #likealadydoc pic.twitter.com/Ft5yIyVdlv— Natalie Silvey (@silv24) January 20, 2016
Picked up this nice little number in Teluk Bahang today. Supporting all doctors. #pinkwednesday #likealadydoc pic.twitter.com/BL2FvX9ssx— Dr Andrew K Black (@AntifragileDoc) January 20, 2016
The things I do for Dominic Lawson. Off to work #likealadydoc. #PinkWednesday pic.twitter.com/5ZW0C65k67— Trisha Greenhalgh (@trishgreenhalgh) January 20, 2016
Happy #pinkwednesday everyone! #likealadydoc pic.twitter.com/uaUigKqf0c— Charlie Williams (@ChuckyDubya) January 20, 2016
#pinkwednesday #likealadydoc yep that will do pic.twitter.com/iKRapEhVub— Dr David Nicholl (@djnicholl) January 20, 2016
OTT #pinkwednesday combo? Even laces. Dithered #likealadydoc over choice of tie. Arsenal scarf as nod to masculinity pic.twitter.com/ILFRKGy9Yq— Dermot O'Riordan (@dermotor) January 20, 2016
Just a shame I don't have pink scrubs to compliment my hat while I work! #likealadydoc #pinkwednesday pic.twitter.com/XQESRJ9il4— Nadia Masood (@n4di4_m) January 20, 2016
Supposedly on a day off but in for a meeting. No blue scrubs for me today. #pinkwednesday #likealadydoc pic.twitter.com/WA45dE5kpK— Steph C (@CSC16) January 20, 2016
Wearing pink to support female colleagues. Compassionate care/balancing home life. Son is 18 2day #pinkwednesday pic.twitter.com/Ae1EazsEcd— Roger Scott (@ImTheDoctor) January 20, 2016
Solidarity for #pinkwednesday! @NatalieBlencowe @CSR_Bris @BlazebyJ @C_A_Chamberlain pic.twitter.com/QfsmAGsGUu— Angus McNair (@AngusGKMcNair) January 20, 2016
This is how @CSR_Bris do #pinkwednesday pic.twitter.com/ZZ4k4Gbd6U— Natalie Blencowe (@NatalieBlencowe) January 20, 2016
Mehdian told us the response has been excellent.
"We've had as many men posting themselves wearing pink as women; and doctors from across the world as far a field as Australia joining in," she said. "Even some Royal colleges have joined in which makes a statement about how important the profession feels women's contributions are to medicine."
"The response makes me feel very proud to be part of the profession," Mehdian continued.
"As a female orthopaedic surgeon in an extremely male dominated specialty, It's very important to me that we demonstrate women can break through all perceived barriers and that their male colleagues are extremely supportive for them to do so!"