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Do men outperform women during orthopaedic residency training?
Katharine Pico1, Terence J Gioe, Ann Vanheest
1Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Minnesota, 2450 Riverside Avenue, Suite R200, Minneapolis, MN, 55454, USA.
Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research
|March 25, 2010
Summary
Female and male orthopaedic surgery residents demonstrate equal performance in residency, suggesting that performance should not bias future selection. This finding is crucial for encouraging more women in orthopaedic surgery.
Area of Science:
- Orthopaedic Surgery
- Medical Education
- Gender Studies in Medicine
Background:
- Orthopaedic surgery has a low percentage of women (13.1%), potentially due to selection bias.
- Understanding gender performance differences in residency is key to addressing underrepresentation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if male and female orthopaedic surgery residents perform equally during residency.
- To determine if residency performance data could create bias in selecting future female residents.
Main Methods:
- Compared performance metrics of 90 residents (73 males, 17 females) from 1999-2009.
- Analyzed Orthopaedic In-Training Examination (OITE) scores, American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery (ABOS) results, faculty evaluations, and a graduate survey.
Main Results:
- No significant differences found in faculty evaluations across all competencies.
- Similar mean OITE scores (Years 2-5) and ABOS Part 1/Part 2 scores/pass rates between genders.
- Females reported similar fellowship pursuit and higher career satisfaction, with slightly fewer practice hours.
Conclusions:
- Resident performance in orthopaedic surgery is comparable between males and females.
- Performance during residency should not be a factor in biased selection against female applicants.
- Findings support efforts to increase female representation in orthopaedic surgery.
