In this paper I discuss gender issues manifested within health occupations and across them. In particular, I examine gender dynamics in medicine, nursing, community health workers and home carers. I also explore from a gender perspective issues concerning delegation, migration and violence, which cut across these categories of health workers. These occupational categories and themes reflect priorities identified by the terms of reference for this review paper and also the themes that emerged from the accessed literature. This paper is based on a desk review of literature accessed through the internet, search engines, correspondence with other experts and reviewing bibliographies of existing material. These efforts resulted in a list of 534 articles, chapters, books and reports. Although most of the literature reviewed was in English, some of it was also in Spanish and Portuguese. Material related to training and interpersonal patient-provider relations that highlights how occupational inequalities affect the availability and quality of health care is covered by other review papers commissioned by the Women and Gender Equity Knowledge Network. (AU)