Orthopaedic Authorship: Sex-Based Resident Publication Trends

Area of Science:

• Orthopaedic Surgery
• Medical Education
• Academic Medicine

Background:

• Orthopaedic surgery has historically been male-dominated.
• Analyzing trends in resident demographics and academic output is crucial for understanding gender representation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To quantify female representation in orthopaedic surgery training and academia.
• To analyze sex-specific, educational, geographic, and publication trends of orthopaedic surgery residents.

Main Methods:

• Demographic data collected from accredited orthopaedic surgery residency websites.
• Program rankings utilized Doximity Residency Navigator and US News & World Report.
• Publication metrics assessed via PubMed and Scopus.

Main Results:

• 18.2% of 3,345 orthopaedic surgery residents were female.
• Female residents disproportionately attended top-ranked residency programs and research institutions.
• Female residents authored 16.4% of identified publications, with comparable research productivity metrics (H-indices, authorship position) to male residents.

Conclusions:

• Female orthopaedic surgery residents are more likely to be affiliated with higher-ranking institutions.
• Affiliation with higher-ranking institutions did not correlate with differences in research productivity.
• Future research should investigate the evolution of research productivity in orthopaedic surgery over time.