Gender differences in self-reported participation in ultrasound-guided procedures: a retrospective analysis

Across multiple procedural specialties, female trainees tend to perform fewer procedures and receive less autonomy than their male counterparts. However, there is currently no data on procedure contribution levels for radiology trainees.

To evaluate whether there was a difference in the degree of reported participation in ultrasound-guided procedures between male and female trainees at our institution.

This retrospective study assessed for differences in the reported level of participation between male and female trainees in ultrasound (US) guided paracentesis and thoracentesis. We performed a radiology information system (RIS) search of US guided procedures performed on adult patients from 7/1/2018 to 2/29/2024. Trainee participation levels in the procedures were determined per available reports and classified into independently performed, assisted, or observed. We evaluated the differential reporting of procedure contributions for male and female trainees based on observed vs. expected frequencies, as well as the effect of the trainees' and supervising physicians' gender and experience level on these contributions.

A total of 189 trainees (52 female, 137 male) and 58 supervising physicians (18 female and 40 male) were included. The study evaluated 4156 reports, which showed no difference in the percentage of independently completed procedures (females 80.9% vs. 81.9%, X² (1, N = 4156) = 0.494, p = 0.48) except when supervised by junior physicians less than 2 years out of training (females 81.0% vs. 86.5%, X² (1, N = 1908) = 8.19, p = 0.0042). However, female trainees were more likely than male trainees to report observing procedures (females 9.2% vs. 5.2%, X2 (1, N = 4156) = 21.1, p < 0.00001) rather than actively participating in procedures despite a similar training level; this difference was not observed when supervising physicians were females.

Female radiology trainees report a similar percentage of independently performed procedures but a lower rate of active participation than male trainees.