Abstract No. 386 - Gender specific preferences influencing interventional radiology specialty selection for medical students

Abstract

In the upcoming years, interventional radiology will be transitioning from a fellowship to a residency program. In 2012-2013, only 15% of interventional radiology fellows were women. The purpose of our study is to evaluate gender specific preferences that may influence medical student specialty selection for residency, in particular interventional radiology. An online survey was distributed via email to assess gender specific preferences that influence specialty selection for medical students. The survey drew parallels to prior investigations looking at similar factors in comparable fields such as interventional cardiology. This survey also inquired about educational exposure to diagnostic radiology and interventional radiology during the medical school. Participation was elicited from medical schools in the Tri-state area on a voluntary basis. Statistical analysis was performed using fisher exact test with p value of < 0.05 set for significance. 106 medical students answered the distributed survey. Of those 58% (n=61) of responders were females and 42% (n=45) were males. 56% of males are considering Interventional Radiology as future specialty, as opposed to 21% of females (p=0.01). The top five deterring factors for females in terms of specialty selection were radiation exposure, extended work hours, call responsibilities, length of career and male predominance. Specifically the two significant deterring factors for females were call responsibilities and male predominance (p=0.02). Interventional radiology exposure was similar between males and females and less than that diagnostic radiology. However, males were also more likely to be part of an IR interest group in their medical school than females (p=0.003). Radiation exposure is still the number one factor that deter medical students from selecting interventional radiology as a career. Interestingly the factors that distinctly deter females rather than males from this field are the call responsibilities and current male dominance in the field.