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Gender disparities in gastrointestinal surgery fellowship programs

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Abstract

Background

Gender disparities in surgical leadership have come under increased scrutiny, and in order to better understand why these disparities exist, it is important to study the disparities across surgical fellowship programs.

Methods

Data derived from the Fellowship Council (FC) database for fellows completing training from academic years 2015–2019 were analyzed. Available information included institution, fellowship type, program director (PD), associate program director (APD), faculty, and fellow names for all FC Fellowships. Faculty and fellow gender were determined from personal knowledge or publicly available online biographical information.

Results

A total of 1023 fellows and 221 programs were analyzed. The advanced gastrointestinal (GI)/minimally invasive surgery (MIS) fellowship programs included 321 fellows, with a small increase in the percentage of female fellows from 28 to 31% over 5 years. Advanced GI/MIS/bariatric fellowship programs had a total of 262 fellows, also with a small increase in the percent of female fellows, from 29 to 38% in the study period. The gender of program directors, assistant program directors, and faculty for the fellowship programs studied were analyzed as well. Of the 221 programs in the Fellowship Council data, 13.6% of program directors, 18.3% of associate program directors, and 19.9% of faculty were female. Advanced GI/MIS fellowship programs had the lowest percentage of female PDs, with only 9.3% of the program directors being female. Colorectal surgery fellowships had the highest percentage of female PDs, with 33% being female.

Conclusions

In conclusion, women are underrepresented in gastrointestinal surgery fellowships among both trainees and educators. It is likely that a significant contributing factor to this underrepresentation of female fellows is the underrepresentation of female program directors and faculty; although neither our study nor any previously published study has proven that statistically.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Surgery, Stony Brook University School of Medicine, 101 Nicolls Road, Stony Brook, NY, 11794, USA

    Daniel H. Wolbrom & Aurora Pryor

  2. Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA

    L. Michael Brunt

  3. University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, WI, USA

    Anne Lidor

  4. TCU/UNTHSC School of Medicine, Fort Worth, TX, USA

    D. Rohan Jeyarajah

  5. Department of Surgery, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA

    Samer G. Mattar

Authors
  1. Daniel H. Wolbrom
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  2. L. Michael Brunt
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  3. Anne Lidor
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  4. D. Rohan Jeyarajah
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  5. Samer G. Mattar
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  6. Aurora Pryor
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Daniel H. Wolbrom.

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Disclosures

Drs. Aurora Pryor, Samer Mattar, Anne Lidor, L. Michael Brunt, and Rohan Jeyarajah are all in the leadership of The Fellowship Council. Dr. Daniel Wolbrom has no conflicts of interest or financial ties to disclose.

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Wolbrom, D.H., Brunt, L.M., Lidor, A. et al. Gender disparities in gastrointestinal surgery fellowship programs. Surg Endosc 36, 3805–3810 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00464-021-08697-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00464-021-08697-3

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