Impact of Gender and Underrepresented in Medicine Status on Research Productivity Among Ophthalmology Residency Applicants

Abstract

Insufficient representation of women and underrepresented in medicine (URiM) students remains a problem among the ophthalmology workforce. In the residency selection process, research productivity is an important factor. We aimed to determine the average research output listed by applicants and assess for differences by gender and race. Retrospective cohort study. All San Francisco Match applications to the Wilmer Eye Institute for the 2019, 2020, and 2021 ophthalmology residency cycles were retrospectively reviewed. Each applicant's number of published research articles was recorded and subclassified into first-author publications in any field, publications in ophthalmology, and first-author publications in ophthalmology. Multivariable logistic regression was performed to determine factors associated with successful publication. A total of 1376 applications were reviewed. On average, women had a greater number of publications in ophthalmology (2.08 vs 1.73, P=.05) and presentations (4.52 vs 4.09, P=.01) compared with men. Self-identified URiMs were less likely to list publications in ophthalmology (odds ratio [OR] 0.650, P=.05) and first-author publications in ophthalmology (OR 0.570, P=.02) compared to non-URiMs. Our findings highlight disparities in research productivity by self-identified URiM status. On the other hand, women had similar if not higher research outputs than men. Greater research mentorship and opportunities to support URiM students may facilitate the recruitment of diverse trainees to ophthalmology programs.