1. Practice patterns and work environments that influence gender inequality among academic surgeons.
- Author
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Zhang B, Westfal ML, Griggs CL, Hung YC, Chang DC, and Kelleher CM
- Subjects
- Female, Humans, Male, New York, Sex Factors, Career Choice, Physicians, Women statistics & numerical data, Practice Patterns, Physicians' statistics & numerical data, Specialties, Surgical statistics & numerical data, Workload statistics & numerical data
- Abstract
Background: Practice pattern and work environment differences may impact career advancement opportunities and contribute to the gender gap within highly competitive surgical specialties., Methods: Using a 2000-2015 New York statewide dataset, we compared board-certified pediatric surgeons by specialist case volume and Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI), which quantifies surgeon focus within specialist case mix., Results: 51 pediatric surgeons were analyzed for 461 surgeon-years. Female surgeons had lower case volume (159 cases/year versus 214, p < 0.01), lower shares of specialist cases (14.1% versus 16.7%, p = 0.04), and less focused practices (HHI 0.16 versus 0.20, p = 0.03). Female surgeons' networks had fewer colleagues (7.2 versus 12.1, p < 0.01), and lower annual total (388 versus 726, p < 0.01) and specialist case volume (83 versus 159, p < 0.01), even after accounting for career length. However, female surgeons performed more cases within their networks (49% versus 36%, p = 0.04) and worked at major teaching hospitals as often as men (76% versus 76%, p = 0.97)., Conclusion: The challenges that female surgeons face may be reflective of organizational inequities that necessitate intentional scrutiny and change., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)
- Published
- 2020
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