Female Orthopaedic Residents have Comparable Academic Qualifications as Male Counterparts at Residency Application
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Women represent only 15.3% of all residents and fellows in the field of orthopedic surgery. The rate of increase of women in the field of orthopedics continues to lag behind all other surgical specialties. The purpose of this study was 2-fold: (1) to evaluate male/female representation in orthopedic specialty societies and (2) to examine the involvement of male/female orthopedic surgeons on committees, in leadership roles, at annual meetings, and in receipt of monetary awards. A 12-question, anonymous survey was distributed to the executive directors of all 23 orthopedic specialty societies. The survey included questions about the breakdown of male/female membership as well as male/female orthopedic surgeon participation in various functions of the society. Fourteen (60.9%) of 23 executive directors from orthopedic specialty societies responded to the survey. Seven (50.0%) of 14 survey respondents reported society membership of more than 1000. Six (42.9%) of 14 survey respondents reported male membership of more than 1000, while only the Ruth Jackson Orthopaedic Society reported female membership of more than 1000. Eleven (78.6%) of 14 survey respondents (eg, American Association of Hip and Knee Surgeons, American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society, American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine) reported having more than 10 men in leadership positions, whereas 13 (92.9%) of 14 respondents reported 10 or fewer women in leadership positions. Most orthopedic specialty societies have lower female than male membership, fewer women in leadership positions, and fewer monetary awards granted to women compared with men. This disparity was more evident in anatomic societies (eg, American Association of Hip & Knee Surgeons, American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society) compared with general orthopedic societies (eg, Ruth Jackson Orthopaedic Society, Orthopaedic Research Society). Female orthopedic surgeons remain underrepresented in orthopedic specialty societies. [ Orthopedics . 2021;44(5):289–292.]
Women represent only 15.3% of all residents and fellows in the field of orthopedic surgery. The rate of increase of women in the field of orthopedics continues to lag behind all other surgical specialties. The purpose of this study was 2-fold: (1) to evaluate male/female representation in orthopedic specialty societies and (2) to examine the involvement of male/female orthopedic surgeons on committees, in leadership roles, at annual meetings, and in receipt of monetary awards. A 12-question, anonymous survey was distributed to the executive directors of all 23 orthopedic specialty societies. The survey included questions about the breakdown of male/female membership as well as male/female orthopedic surgeon participation in various functions of the society. Fourteen (60.9%) of 23 executive directors from orthopedic specialty societies responded to the survey. Seven (50.0%) of 14 survey respondents reported society membership of more than 1000. Six (42.9%) of 14 survey respondents reported male membership of more than 1000, while only the Ruth Jackson Orthopaedic Society reported female membership of more than 1000. Eleven (78.6%) of 14 survey respondents (eg, American Association of Hip and Knee Surgeons, American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society, American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine) reported having more than 10 men in leadership positions, whereas 13 (92.9%) of 14 respondents reported 10 or fewer women in leadership positions. Most orthopedic specialty societies have lower female than male membership, fewer women in leadership positions, and fewer monetary awards granted to women compared with men. This disparity was more evident in anatomic societies (eg, American Association of Hip & Knee Surgeons, American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society) compared with general orthopedic societies (eg, Ruth Jackson Orthopaedic Society, Orthopaedic Research Society). Female orthopedic surgeons remain underrepresented in orthopedic specialty societies. [ Orthopedics . 2021;44(5):289–292.]
Discrepancies in Publication Volume Per Matched-Applicant Between Sex, Geographic Regions and Program Affiliation in the 2023 Orthopaedic Surgery Residency Match
Objective: This study aims to examine potential gender-based publication disparities among 2023 orthopaedic surgery matched-applicants, investigate variations in research emphasis based on program affiliation and assess publication differences across different geographic regions. Methods: Orthopaedic surgery residency programs participating in the 2023 NRMP with a publicly available incoming resident class were identified using the NRMP database. Each resident was searched using PubMed and ORCID identifiers for publications. Each program was designated as “university-based”, “community-based”, “community-based/university affiliated” or “other” using the American Medical Association’s FRIEDA database. Results: In total, 763 residents were identified with a mean and median number of publications of 6.1 (SD=10.0) and 3.0 (IQR=1.0-7.0) respectively. There was no significant difference in the median number of publications between males (2.0) and females (3.0, p=0.2315). Those who matched to “community-based/university affiliated” (median=2.0) programs had a lower median number of publications than those who matched to “university-based” (median=3.0, p<0.0001) or “other” (median=6.0, p=0.0006). Geographically, applicants in the West-South Central region (median=1.0) had the lowest publication median compared to those in the New England (median=4.0, p=0.0010) or Pacific (median=4.0, p=0.0015) regions. Conclusion: There lies a perceived increase in significance of research publications for competitiveness in the orthopaedic surgery match. This largely follows the elimination of objective Step-1 scoring to help stratify potential applicants. Research remains an objective manner to stratify applicants; however, new data lacks on recent analysis of the 2023 match pool. There was not a significant difference in the number of publications between male vs female matched-applicants. The program category “other” and the New England and Pacific regions had the highest median number of publications. Keywords: Orthopaedics; Medical Residency; Graduate Medical Education; Medical School; Residency Match; Orthopaedic Education; Orthopaedic Residency
Orthopaedic surgery is the least diverse of all medical specialties, by both sex and race. Diversity among orthopaedic trainees is the lowest in medicine, and growth in percentage representation is the lowest of all surgical subspecialties. Women comprise only 6% of orthopaedic surgeons and 16% of orthopaedic surgery trainees. This extreme lack of diversity in orthopaedics limits creative problem-solving and the potential of our profession. Women in orthopaedics encounter sexual harassment, overt discrimination, and implicit bias, which create barriers to training, career satisfaction, and success. Women are underrepresented in leadership positions, perpetuating the lack of diversity through poor visibility to potential candidates, which impedes recruitment. Correction will require a concerted effort, as acknowledged by the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons leadership who included a goal and plan to increase diversity in the 2019 to 2023 Strategic Plan. Recommended initiatives include support for pipeline programs that increase diversity of the candidate pool; sexual harassment and implicit bias acknowledgement, education, and corrective action; and the active sponsorship of qualified, capable women by organizational leaders. To follow, women will lend insight from their diverse viewpoints to research questions, practice problems, and clinical conundrums of our specialty, augmenting the profession and improving patient outcomes.T wo decades into the 21st century, women comprise slightly more than 50% of medical students, 46% of resident trainees, and 36% of the physician workforce in the United States but less than 6% of all practicing orthopaedic surgeons, who remain overwhelmingly white men. 1,2 When considering either sex or race, orthopaedic surgery is the least diverse of all surgical subspecialties, ranking dead last in both categories. The proportion of women in orthopaedic surgery has grown very little in the past 30 years, increasing just over three percentage points from 2.5% in 1990. Moreover, female orthopaedic surgeons seldom rise to positions of power and influence, giving them a small podium presence at national meetings and
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