"It's the year of the superhero, first Wonder Woman, then the first female doctor, and now our female GPs, who really are very impressive." Women accounted for 50.2 per cent of members at the RACGP in 2016-2017, up from 47 per cent in 2012-2013. Medical Board of Australia data confirmed women now outflanked men in general practice, with 973 more registered female GPs than males as of March 2017 (19,965 women versus 18,992 men). The only state or territory where men still outnumbered women was Queensland (4042 versus 3923), as well as GPs listed as having no principal place of practice (341 vs 442). Founders of the RACGP, Dr Sarah Newman Credit:RACGP

Dr Sarah Newman remembers her surgeon father missing his own birthday dinner because he had been called in to perform a 10-hour surgery. Her mother, a radiologist, struggled to live up to the ideal of being a "good" mother with her heavy workload. "She was a great mother, but there were times where I really wanted her, and she wasn't able to be there," Dr Newman said. Her parents were the passionate and driven role models that inspired Dr Newman to become a doctor herself. But the rigidity of physician training, coupled with gruelling exam timetables and draining shift work came at a time when many women were considering having children.

"As a young woman I could see on the horizon this was going to be very restrictive," Dr Newman, 32, said. "Time pressures are coming from every direction." General practice offered her more flexibility, and the opportunity to pursue her passion for treating patients without giving up her passions outside the clinic, said the Perth-based GP trainee, aspiring children's author, illustrator and advocate for doctors in training. Being a GP meant she could have a meaningful impact on patients' health. "General practice might not be 'sexy', but prevention saves lives," she said.

General Practice has continued to attract an increasing number of female medical graduates in as allegations of sexual harassment and bullying have plagued male-dominated medical professions like surgery and intensive care. Recent reports that female doctors were asked about their plans to have children during job interviews prompted calls from the Australian Medical Association for tougher penalties against workplaces that discriminated against female candidates. Bullying and sexual harassment were "ingrained" in doctor training for other specialties, Dr Newman said. "Even just scheduling meetings in the afternoon and the morning when women were trying to get kids to and from school is just one example of institutional sexism. It doesn't allow women to be on the same footing as men."

Dr Zena Burgess, CEO of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP). Credit:Paul Jeffers Women who experienced gender discrimination may be driven away from traditionally male-dominated medical specialties, but Dr Burgess said the GP lifestyle was the strongest factor driving the growing female GP workforce. It allowed GPs to tailor their work around raising children or looking after elderly relatives – commitments shouldered by women more so than men – more so than other specialties, she said. The work was also more team-based compared to the hierarchical structures in hospitals, Dr Burgess said. "They have a sense of being in control of their own lives, rather than working in hospitals where they are more likely to be proscribed work."

Female patients who felt more comfortable seeing a female doctor were also benefiting from the more equitable gender split among GPs. "Long gone are the days where a visit to the GP meant a consultation with a middle-aged man," Dr Burgess said. Overall, the ranks of female medical graduates were swelling. In 2015, women accounted for roughly half of all medical students starting their degrees (51.9 per cent of domestic students and 48.9 per cent of international students), according to the federal government's latest Medical Training and Review Panel report. Women still trailed behind men across all medical specialities, accounting for 42 per cent of all medical practitioners in Australia between January and March 2017, and were still under-represented in traditionally male-dominated professions, accounting for less than one-third of advanced vocational trainees in general surgery, intensive care and oral and maxillofacial surgery.

But women made up 54.5 per cent of basic trainees and 53.6 percent advances trainees in 2015. They dominated obstetrics and gynaecology traineeships (79.7 per cent), paediatrics (74.9 per cent) and public health medicine (68.8 per cent).