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Abstract

In their study, “A Descriptive Analysis of General Surgery Residency Program Directors in the United States”, Hughes et al. use website-based data to demonstrate some key differences between male and female general surgery program directors. 1 Hughes A. Im K. Zhu J. Saunders B. A descriptive analysis of general surgery residency program directors in the United States. Am J Surg. 2022 Jun 25; (00440-8): S0002-S9610https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amjsurg.2022.06.020 Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF Scopus (0) Google Scholar Most notably, they report that female general surgery (GS) program directors (PDs) were younger when entering their role, and nearly two-thirds of the current female GS PDs were appointed within the last 5 years. Despite the younger average age, the authors found that the male and female PDs had similar academic qualifications, suggesting no difference in the academic standard for PD selection. This trend towards female PDs is not surprising as the field of general surgery, especially academic surgery, has seen increasing numbers of females in recent years, from trainees to attendings to departmental leadership. 2 Oseni T.O. Kelly B.N. Pei K. et al. Diversity efforts in surgery: are we there yet?. Am J Surg. 2022 Jul; 224: 259-263https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amjsurg.2022.01.014 Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (4) Google Scholar , 3 Carpenter A.M. Tan S.A. Costopoulos K. Cooper L.A. Sarosi G.A. Shaw C.M. Gender diversity in general surgery residency leadership. J Surg Educ. 2018 Nov; 75: e68-e71https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsurg.2018.07.021 Crossref PubMed Scopus (31) Google Scholar , 4 The State of Women in Academic Medicine 2018-2019: Exploring Pathways to Equity. 2020https://store.aamc.org/the-state-of-women-in-academic-medicine-2018-2019-exploring-pathways-to-equity.html Google Scholar