A fifth of surgeons in England are female

Moberly, Tom

doi:10.1136/bmj.k4530

Cited by 32 publications

(19 citation statements)

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“…For the last 25 years, females have outnumbered males entering medical school 24 and plastic surgery has one of the highest proportions of female trainees, measured at 40% in 2018. 25 In this survey, 90% of trainees training flexibly reported experiencing negative attitudes from colleagues at work and these results are similar to a previous survey of UK surgical trainees. 23 There is an opportunity to improve the experience for trainees training flexibly by putting support systems in place to ensure the risk of discrimination is minimised.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 88%

Plastic surgery training in the UK: Results from a national survey of trainee experiences

et al. 2020

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Background Plastic surgery training in the UK continues to evolve towards an outcome-based rather than time-served curriculum. UK plastic surgery trainees are appointed nationally, and are assessed according to national standards, but training is delivered regionally. This study sought opinion from current UK plastic surgery trainees in order to highlight strengths and shortcomings of the higher surgical training programme. Method A cross-sectional study was designed and administered by the UK Plastic Surgery Trainees Association (PLASTA). A questionnaire was distributed to all UK plastic surgery trainees holding a National Training Number, using the REDCap web-based application. Results Of the 320 UK plastic surgery trainees, 131 (41%) participated in this survey, with responses from all 12 UK training regions. The most common subspecialty career aspirations for trainees were hand surgery, cleft lip and palate, lower limb and oncoplastic breast reconstruction. The survey highlighted regional variation in teaching programmes, the ability to achieve indicative operative logbook numbers, and training in aesthetic surgery. Of the trainees, 82% expressed a desire to undertake a fellowship within their training, but most did not know whether their deanery would support this. Fifteen per cent of the respondents were currently training flexibly and the majority of these had experienced negative behaviours towards their less than full time working status. Of the respondents, 44% reported stress, 25% reported a lack of autonomy and 17% reported feeling burnt out at work at least once a week. A total of 85% perceived that they did not have access to a mentoring service. Conclusions Plastic surgery remains a popular and highly competitive surgical speciality in the UK, and many trainees reported high levels of satisfaction during their training. Aspects of training that could be improved have been highlighted and recommendations made accordingly.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 88%

Plastic surgery training in the UK: Results from a national survey of trainee experiences

et al. 2020

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“…This is interesting as there has traditionally been a strong male bias in a number of surgical specialties, despite UCL Medical School cohorts being 51% female for the years 2013–17 and national UK medical school intake now being approximately 55% female 10. Indeed, it is estimated that around only 12% of the consultant surgeons are female, with sub-specialties such as trauma and orthopedics and cardiothoracic surgery displaying a particular male gender bias 11. In contrast, our results suggest that, at least early on during medical school, female students are equally as motivated as male students to seek out and undertake surgical shadowing opportunities.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 53%

<p>Development of a “Surgical Shadowing Scheme” to improve undergraduate experiences of surgery</p>

Bartlett

Momin

Azam

et al. 2019

AMEP

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Purpose To establish a sustainable model for a “Surgical Shadowing Scheme” (SSS) and assess how this affects undergraduate attitudes to surgical careers. Patients and methods Surgeons at university teaching hospitals associated with UCL Medical School and UCL Partners, United Kingdom, were approached for their willingness to participate in the scheme. Medical students were then invited to apply for the scheme, where students were individually matched to operating theater sessions with surgeons in their specialty of choice. Feedback was subsequently obtained, evaluating experiences of the placement and the effect this had on future career aspirations. Results After running for four consecutive years, approximately 220 students have participated in the scheme across a range of surgical units and specialties. A total of 91.5% of the students were pre-clinical (years 1–3), whilst the remainder were clinical (years 4–6). Fifty-four percent were female and 46% male. Eighty-three percent of the students did not have any previous experience of the specialty that they shadowed, and 67% agreed that participating in the scheme had either “increased” or “strongly increased” their desire to pursue a surgical career. Ninety-four percent said they would “recommend” or “strongly recommend” the SSS to a peer. Over a third of students reported scrubbing-up during their placements and 35% of these directly assisted the lead surgeon. Traditionally male-dominated surgical sub-specialties recruited a high proportion of female students. Conclusion This is the first published example of an established “Surgical Shadowing Scheme” for medical undergraduates. Our SSS has been highly valued by students and indicates that even a single high-quality surgical exposure is sufficient to increase the desire of undergraduates to pursue a surgical career. We hope that this SSS will act as a blueprint for other centers to develop their own shadowing schemes, in turn helping to ensure that surgery continues to inspire and attract the very best candidates for the future.

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“…To ensure that all individuals attracted to surgery are enabled to flourish and enjoy their surgical careers, we need to change the ‘surgical norm’. This particularly applies for women, since currently 54% of the foundation trainees in surgery are female, 1 and even if most of the challenges to succeed in a high competitive field are common to both sexes, there are barriers, hidden or evident, peculiar to women.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Changing the norm towards gender equity in surgery: the women in surgery working group of the Association of Surgeons of Great Britain and Ireland’s perspective

et al. 2019

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A fifth of surgeons in England are female

Cited by 32 publications

References 0 publications

Plastic surgery training in the UK: Results from a national survey of trainee experiences

Plastic surgery training in the UK: Results from a national survey of trainee experiences

<p>Development of a “Surgical Shadowing Scheme” to improve undergraduate experiences of surgery</p>

Changing the norm towards gender equity in surgery: the women in surgery working group of the Association of Surgeons of Great Britain and Ireland’s perspective

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