Difficulties:
1) hard to find a mate unless you already have one--you are underworked, don't have time to socialize other than inside the hospital, your mate pool is limited to what's in the hospital and not always very appealing (married, don't take care of themselves/weird/workaholics/power freaks, etc).
Compared to nurses, women surgeons have less time to be concerned about personal appearance, make up, being 'nice and womanly', all this other dating stuff. Plus, some guys feel threatened by powerful women and they feel shy talking to you. You develop propensity for bitchiness in the stress of the surgical training. Now think--if i am a young attractive male resident--would i rather date a nurse, who has time to prepare a meal, looks nice, is sweet and not so tired to have sex, is 'below' me in rank and would do anything in the world to please me? or--an overworked, sleepy looking, potentially intellectually superior to me woman, who does not have time to bake cookies...etc. I know I am stereotyping, but this is just to get the point across.
2) Childbearing age--your clock is ticking--every year of training adds on some Down syndrome risk and other niceties--plus, who would want to be pregnant while taking care of patients and on your feet and not havaing adequate time to eat properly? So you have to either take a risk to have a baby while in training and face some possible resentment or postpone till later and maybe face a funny-looking kid.
3) Miscellaneous--discrimination, preconceptions, blah blah--is getting better in this century, but some people are still predjudiced. Whatever...it's not your problem and is out of your control.
............
Good things--
1) Your hands--generally smaller hands, women have better fine motor skills and easier time learning to stitch, tie knots, etc.
2) your charm, charisma--trust me, it can sometimes save your behind in a male-dominated field. Use it.
if i will think of more, i will post again...
