Gender Disparity in Awards in General Surgery Residency Programs

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Surgical Training
• Gender Disparities in Medicine

Background:

• Women are underrecognized as award winners in medical societies.
• The gender disparity in award recognition within surgical training programs remains understudied.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the presence and extent of gender disparity in award recipients within general surgery residency programs.
• To analyze trends in award recognition for female residents over two decades.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective analysis of deidentified data from 24 general surgery residency programs (1996-2017).
• Compared the proportion of female residents to female award recipients.
• Used multilevel logistic regression to assess the odds of female residents receiving awards versus male residents.

Main Results:

• Female residents were significantly less likely to receive awards (OR, 0.44).
• Disparities were observed across award types (teaching, clinical, non-clinical excellence) but not for research awards.
• The gap narrowed from the first decade (OR, 0.29) to the second decade (OR, 0.50), but persisted.

Conclusions:

• Female residents are underrepresented as award recipients in general surgery programs.
• These findings suggest ongoing implicit bias within surgical departments and training environments.
• Addressing these disparities is crucial for promoting gender equity in surgical careers.