The field of nuclear medicine has experienced remarkable advances since its inception in the mid-20th century, with innovation, research and development being a driving force. New imaging devices, radiopharmaceuticals, and clinical applications are produced at a fast pace. Advances in nuclear medicine have significantly improved the accuracy of medical diagnoses, enabled the non-invasive evaluation of physiological functions, and provided targeted treatment options for certain diseases. As technology continues to evolve, nuclear medicine is likely to play an increasingly vital role in modern healthcare. New standards of best practice should be emphasized not only as part of training programs, but all efforts should be made to keep the medical community abreast with developments in order to optimal service delivery in this rapidly expanding field.

The global nuclear medicine workforce is composed of individuals with diverse training and specialization backgrounds, marked by significant regional differences. Typically, the team comprises but is not limited to, specialized nursing staff, nuclear medicine technologists/radiographers, medical physicists, radiopharmacists, radiochemists, radiologists who are dual certified in radiology and nuclear medicine, and nuclear medicine physicians. There is a pressing need to bolster the number of well-trained professionals in the field of nuclear medicine on a global scale. Currently, there exists a prime opportunity to advocate for nuclear medicine diagnostic and therapeutic applications as attractive fields of study for women, thereby contributing to the essential expansion of the workforce in these domains.

To ensure accessible medical care it is imperative for the team delivering healthcare service to include an equal distribution of gender and ethnicity that mirrors the population they serve at all levels of service delivery.1

It is established that global health care is improved when women are involved in planning its delivery. Women have a perspective based on different life experiences, which enrich health care leadership. Women in leadership has a positive impact globally. Companies with diverse leadership outperform those with exclusively male leadership.2

Creating a gender-inclusive nuclear medicine workforce requires addressing several factors. Gender equality indicators are not only the female-to-male ratio of labor-force participation. To address true equality, we need to focus on the female-to-male ratio of representation at all the levels of service delivery in a nuclear medicine department including nuclear medicine technologists, radiopharmacists, medical physicists, nuclear medicine physicians, departmental management, academia, and leadership positions. It is crucial to eliminate gender disparity in wages. Finally, we should strive for equality in the time spent on unpaid care work at home, which represents a societal-level barrier to achieving true workplace inclusivity. 3

This paper will examine the status of women in the nuclear medicine workforce, identify areas for improving equality, and explore potential solutions to achieve gender equality.