Women in surgery residency programs: evolving trends from a national perspective

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Surgical Training
• Gender Studies in Medicine

Background:

• Medical schools graduate similar numbers of men and women.
• Surgery residency programs must attract trainees of both genders.
• Previous data on gender distribution in surgical training is limited.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare gender distributions of US medical graduates (USMG) and international medical graduates (IMG) entering general surgery (GS) and other surgical specialties.
• To analyze trends in gender representation in US surgical residency programs over a six-year period.

Main Methods:

• Data extracted from the American College of Surgeons Resident Master File and AAMC FACTS database.
• Chi-square statistics used to compare gender distributions across academic years.
• Analysis focused on USMG graduating, applying to, and entering GS programs, as well as USMG and IMG entering training.

Main Results:

• Significant increase in women among USMG (43% to 47%), those applying to GS (27% to 33%), and entering GS residencies (32% to 40%).
• Proportion of women among IMG entering GS residencies ranged from 11% to 18% with no clear trend.
• Increased proportion of women USMG entering most other surgical specialties.

Conclusions:

• The gender gap in US general surgery residency appears to be narrowing.
• Surgical programs need to actively recruit and retain women to ensure a diverse and skilled future workforce.