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

Bellini, Maria Irene; Adair, Anya; Fotopoulou, Christina; Graham, Yitka; Hutson, Alexis; McNally, Scarlett; Mohan, Helen; Vig, S.; Parks, Rowan W.; Papalois, Vassilios

doi:10.1177/0141076819854194

Cited by 16 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…It is encouraging to see the development of specialty specific mentorship programmes like this, which have been highlighted as important by several working groups including the Association of Surgeons of Great Britain and Ireland Women in Surgery. 26 This group also identified the potential for social media to provide an easier method of finding gender-specific mentors, role models and support networks.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gender diversity in UK surgical specialties: a national observational study

et al. 2022

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ObjectivesTo compare gender diversity between UK surgical specialties, assess trends over time, and estimate when gender parity might be achieved.DesignObservational study.SettingNational Health Service, UK.ParticipantsNHS Hospital & Community Health Service workforce statistics for 2011 to 2020Main outcome measuresLogistic regression was used to compare female representation in 2020 between surgical specialties, and to examine for any significant trends between 2011 and 2020. The method of least squares was used to estimate when female representation of specialty registrars would reach 50% (‘gender parity’) for specialties with <40% female representation.ResultsIn 2020, female consultant and specialty registrar representation was significantly different between surgical specialties (both p<0.001). Female representation for each specialty were as follows (from highest to lowest): Specialty Registrars—Ophthalmology 49.7%, Otolaryngology 48.2%, Paediatric Surgery 45.5%, Plastic Surgery 42.2%, General Surgery 39.8%, Urology 31.6%, Vascular Surgery 25.0%, Neurosurgery 24.7%, Cardiothoracic Surgery 21.3%, and Trauma and Orthopaedics 20.6%; Consultants—Ophthalmology 32.4%, Paediatric Surgery 31.7%, Plastic Surgery 20.9%, General Surgery 17.5%, Otolaryngology 17%, Vascular Surgery 13.7%, Urology 11.7%, Cardiothoracic Surgery 10.8%, Neurosurgery 8.2%, and Trauma and Orthopaedics 7.3%. There was a significant positive trend in female representation of specialty registrars between 2011 and 2020 for all specialties except for Paediatric Surgery (representation consistently >45%) and Vascular Surgery (representation consistently <30%). General Surgery was estimated to achieve gender parity of their specialty registrars by 2028, Urology by 2033, Neurosurgery by 2064, Trauma and Orthopaedics by 2070, and Cardiothoracic Surgery by 2082.ConclusionsDespite improvements over the last decade, gender disparity persists in the UK surgical workforce and there are significant differences between surgical specialties. Further work is necessary to establish the reasons for these observed differences with a specific focus on Vascular Surgery, Cardiothoracic Surgery, Neurosurgery, and Trauma and Orthopaedics.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gender diversity in UK surgical specialties: a national observational study

et al. 2022

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“…It is very useful to group people on a particular topic and has been proven to facilitate direct interactions as distant mentoring. 11 WhatsApp allows private and direct messages in an encrypted form between users connected generally through their mobile devices. Finally, Instagram is mainly focused on sharing photos, to capture a momentum.…”

Section: Social Media Benefitsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social Media Use Among Transplant Professionals in Europe: a Cross-Sectional Study From the European Society of Organ Transplantation

Bellini¹,

Parisotto²,

Dor³

et al. 2020

Exp Clin Transplant

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Objectives: Social media are Internet-based tools to gather and communicate information. Our aim was to survey transplant professionals in their attitude toward social media, to allow a better understanding of these technologies and their impact on health communication. Materials and Methods: An online survey was distributed through the European Society for Organ Transplantation's social media platforms. Participation was voluntary and confidential. Participants were health care professionals working in organ transplant fields and actively responding to the link shared through the European Society for Organ Transplantation's social media platforms. Results: In total, 190 health care professionals answered the survey: 70 (37%) were 35 to 44 years old, 105 (55%) were male, and 154 (81%) were white. The main training background was transplant nephrology (n = 42; 22%), with 115 participants (61%) working in academic centers. More than half (n = 102; 54%) used social media multiple times per day, utilizing Twitter or Facebook to connect with patients in equal amounts (n = 65; 34%) or WhatsApp (n = 53; 28%). To communicate about non-work-related information, most respondents (n = 124; 65%) chose WhatsApp, with 98 (52%) connecting through Facebook and Instagram (n = 54; 28%). Of total participants, 77 (41%) actively used Web-based technologies for educational purposes. Respondents indicated that the main described risks associated with social media were breach of anonymity and confidentiality (n = 159; 84%), lack of authenticity (n = 77; 41%), lack of standard informed consent (n = 77; 41%), and organ trafficking (n = 71; 37%). Conclusions: Transplant health care professionals recognize the role of social media platforms in promoting organ donation, sharing information, and providing knowledge for trainees or for research purposes. Future studies are needed to investigate how health care institutions and professional organizations could prevent risks related to social media use by professionals.

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“…Surgery remains overwhelmingly a male field [ 1 ]. Despite the fact that efforts to attract and retain the female surgical workforce are growing daily, these focus mainly on promoting a change in the culture [ 2 ], which has fortunately already resulted in a significant reduction in much of the overt sexism that was apparent in previous years. However, there remains an overarching theme where unconscious bias identifies surgeons to a stereotype of male individuals [ 3 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Woman’s Place Is in Theatre, but Are Theatres Designed with Women in Mind? A Systematic Review of Ergonomics for Women in Surgery

Bellini

Amabile

Saullo

et al. 2022

JCM

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Background: Literature regarding ergonomic protocols for surgery is lacking, and there is a paucity of information on how this impacts on gender differences with regards to the barriers faced by women in surgery. Methods: This article reviews current literature addressing women in surgery and ergonomics through a systematic search including the Web of Science, Scopus, and PubMed databases. Results: Searches retrieved 425 items, and after a thorough evaluation for inclusion, 15 studies were examined—predominantly surveys (n = 9) and originating from the USA (n = 9). Identified ergonomic challenges included the general shorter height and smaller glove size of women. Furthermore, women experienced more musculoskeletal pain than men, potentially because the size and design of theatre tools are designed for male and tall individuals, highlighting an unconscious gender bias still pervading the surgical field. Conclusions: As more women enter medicine and pursue surgical careers, it is essential to foster a culture of diversity and inclusion in theatre to develop more ergonomic environments.

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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

Cited by 16 publications

References 15 publications

Gender diversity in UK surgical specialties: a national observational study

Gender diversity in UK surgical specialties: a national observational study

Social Media Use Among Transplant Professionals in Europe: a Cross-Sectional Study From the European Society of Organ Transplantation

A Woman’s Place Is in Theatre, but Are Theatres Designed with Women in Mind? A Systematic Review of Ergonomics for Women in Surgery

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