Influence of gender on the evaluation of internal medicine residents

To determine if gender of resident or faculty influences performance ratings of residents on general medicine ward rotations.

Secondary analysis from an observational cohort study of residents and faculty who participated in a randomized, controlled trial of a focused educational intervention on resident evaluations in two internal medicine residency programs. The study included 88 faculty and 160 residents (postgraduate years [PGY] 1-3) of the Yale University department of medicine assigned to inpatient general ward rotations in four different hospitals during academic year 1997-1998. The methods included a hierarchical linear model (HLM) with the male faculty-male resident dyad as reference comparison to investigate the influence of gender on numeric ratings in four domains of competence.

Seventy male and 18 female faculty provided 262 resident evaluations during the study. Factor analysis identified four distinct domains of competence (interpersonal skills, teaching, clinical performance, overall performance). After adjustment for potential confounders, no significant gender influences in evaluation were found in any domain, and there was no consistent pattern of a gender effect on evaluation for the observed trends.

Our results did not identify any gender effects influencing evaluation of residents rotating on a general medicine ward service. If gender influences are present within the evaluation process, identification will likely require more sophisticated methodology to tease apart. Future research incorporating direct observation and qualitative methods may be helpful in delineating potential gender influences on performance evaluation.