Gender Disparities in Cardiovascular Fellowship Training Among 3 Specialties From 2007 to 2017

Abstract

Despite women accounting for nearly half of all U.S. medical school graduates, this balanced representation is lacking in the cardiovascular specialties. To explore this question further, gender-based trends in the selection of cardiovascular subspecialty fellowship training were investigated among three core specialties: anesthesiology, medicine, and surgery. Using enrollment and workforce data from the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME), the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), and the Journal of the American Medical Association Annual Report on Graduate Medical Education, trends in cardiovascular fellowship selection among women were examined over a 10-year period (2007-2017). An attempt was also made to better understand barriers that might contribute to any discrepancies, as well as factors that might influence women's choices of cardiovascular specialties over other fields.

Women in anaesthesia: a scoping review

“…Capdeville 43 reviewed trends in fellowship training in anaesthesiology in USA programmes between 2007 and 2017 using publicly available data registries. Women represented a third of trainees in fellowships programmes, consistent with the proportion of women in anaesthesiology residency training.…”

“…Relative to the proportion of women in residency (36%), women accounted for a larger proportion of trainees in obstetrics (53e70%) or paediatrics (50%) fellowships, and smaller proportion of trainees in adult cardiothoracic anaesthesiology (about 30%), critical care medicine, (about 25%), and pain medicine (about 20%). 43 Bowhay and Watmough 44 reviewed the databases of the Royal College of Anaesthetists (RCoA) on the written part of the Fellowship of the Royal College of Anaesthetists (FRCA) examination. They compared test performance of anaesthesia graduates based on their medical school and on their gender.…”

Who Decided Cardiology Was a Man's Job? The Future of Cardiovascular Medicine and Why Women Are Key

“…Gender disparities exist in all the cardiovascular specialties, including adult cardiothoracic anesthesia (ACTA), and leadership trends parallel those of surgical and medical disciplines. 42 The ACC has done an outstanding job raising awareness by creating working groups, women's sections, and collecting large amounts of data since the first professional life survey was administered in 1996. 37 The multifactorial nature of gender disparities in medicine does not lend itself to simple solutions; however, as an organization the ACC is slowly breaking ground.…”

“…Unlike cardiology's source of fellows, where women account for nearly half of all internal medicine residents, anesthesiology residencies have hit a plateau, with approximately one-third female representation for the last decade; among those who pursue fellowship training, most choose pediatric anesthesia and pain management. 42 Two things need to happen-more women need to pursue anesthesiology residencies to grow the pool of potential fellows, and current female residents contemplating fellowship training should be encouraged to consider ACTA as a viable alternative. Hopefully, the Society of Cardiovascular Anesthesiologists' Women in Cardiothoracic Anesthesia Special Interest Group will be able to entice more women to consider a career in cardiothoracic anesthesia.…”

Ethnic Disparities in Cardiothoracic Anesthesiology Fellowship Training

“…With great enthusiasm, we read the original research article by Capdeville entitled "Gender Disparities in Cardiovascular Fellowship Training Among 3 Specialties From 2007 to 2017." 5 This excellent article is an important contribution toward gaining further insight into barriers in reaching diversity. We applaud the author for this descriptive analysis reporting gender inequity in cardiovascular fellowship training.…”