[What female surgeons wish for!]

Surgical specialties have a recruitment problem. A magnification of the problem is often seen in the "feminization" of medicine but the causes are multifactorial. Female physicians of the association "Die Chirurginnen e. V." want to raise enthusiasm for their profession and strengthen the affinity for a surgical specialty by increasing the visibility and networking of female surgeons. The aim of this article is to present the results of a survey among female surgeons and to discuss them in the focus of the current shortage of personnel.

An anonymized online survey was conducted internally within the association ("Die Chirurginnen e. V.") in October 2022. The survey contained a total of 57 questions and was divided into 7 sections (demographic data, questions about wishes in professional life, private life, social life, towards professional associations, politics and the association). Descriptive statistics were used for the analysis.

A total of 358 female surgeons participated in the survey. This represented a response rate of 25.5% of association members (as of October 2022: n = 1406). The mean age was 39.25 years (±8.06 years; range 25-65 years), 37% (n = 133) were in the specialty of orthopedic and trauma surgery and 26% (n = 93) were in the specialty of visceral surgery. The remainder were distributed across a variety of different surgical specialties. The desire for change was preferentially in the area of continuing surgical education, the implementation of working time models, and the organization of the personal workday (operating room time, administrative tasks, time for patients, bureaucracy).

Motivated and dedicated surgeons are needed to counteract the already existing and increasingly severe shortage of manpower. In recent decades, the proportion of female students and physicians has been increasing, so the needs for recruitment must be increasingly considered. The disparity between men and women at the management level must be gradually resolved. In addition, alternative working models for both genders need to be established in daily practice. By providing a good compatibility of family/private life and career, surgery can remain an attractive profession for future generations.