Study: Women remain underrepresented as fellowship program directors in orthopedic surgery
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Key takeaways:
- Results showed women are underrepresented among orthopedic fellowship program directors.
- Women had the lowest representation in the sports medicine, shoulder and elbow, and adult reconstruction subspecialties.
Published results showed women are underrepresented among orthopedic fellowship program directors, especially in orthopedic sports medicine, shoulder and elbow, and adult reconstruction subspecialties.
Jason Silvestre, MD, and colleagues at Howard University College of Medicine performed a retrospective cohort study of 600 fellowship program directors in orthopedic surgery during the 2022 to 2023 academic year. They used participation-to-prevalence ratios (PPRs) to define representation among both men and women, with a PPR less than 0.8 indicating underrepresentation and a PPR greater than 1.2 indicating overrepresentation.
Overall, 6.7% of fellowship program directors (n = 40) were women. Among 24.5% of fellowship program directors who were assistant professors, 8.8% were women (PPR = 0.67) and 91.2% were men. Among 26.2% of fellowship program directors who were associate professors, 9.6% were women (PPR = 0.77) and 90.4% were men. Among 36.8% of fellowship program directors who were full professors, 4.5% were women (PPR = 0.80) and 95.5% were men. Among 12.5% of fellowship program directors who were unranked, 2.7% were women and 97.3% were men.
According to the study, PPRs were lowest for women in sports medicine (PPR = 0.35), shoulder and elbow (PPR = 0.45), and adult reconstruction (PPR = 0.52) subspecialties, while PPRs were highest for women in oncology (PPR = 1.17), hand surgery (PPR = 1.02), foot and ankle (PPR = 0.84), and trauma (PPR = 0.80) subspecialties.
“Greater sex diversity among fellowship [program directors] may help to increase the recruitment of women into orthopedic subspecialties,” the researchers wrote in the study. “The equitable consideration of orthopedic surgeons from all backgrounds for leadership positions can increase workforce diversity, which may improve the vitality of the orthopedic community,” they concluded.
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