Patient perceptions of female surgeons: how surgeon demeanor and type of surgery affect patient preference.

BackgroundAs more women become surgeons, knowledge of patient perceptions is necessary to educate this new pool of surgeons on how to maximize patient trust and foster the optimal surgeon-patient relationship.Materials and methodsPatients in a general medicine clinic in San Francisco were surveyed. Study respondents read one of the eight short scenarios that differed by surgeon gender, surgery type (lung cancer versus breast cancer), and surgeon demeanor (more masculine--agentic versus more feminine--communal). In all scenarios, the surgeon was described as accomplished and well trained. After reading the short description, respondents rated five items from 0-5, which were averaged to create a measure of preference.ResultsBased on the 476 completed surveys, respondents did not have a significant preference for either female or male surgeons (P = 0.76). We found a significant interaction in respondent choice between the surgeon demeanor and the type of surgery (P < 0.05). Respondents preferred an agentic surgeon for lung cancer surgery and a communal surgeon for breast cancer surgery regardless of surgeon or respondent gender. No other interactions or main effects were statistically significant.ConclusionsOur respondents did not overtly prefer a surgeon based on gender, which suggests that patients may not contribute to the traditional gender biases reported by female surgeons. Further work needs to be done to determine if our results can be replicated in different geographic regions and if there is gender stereotyping within the field of surgery

Improving interprofessional collaboration: evaluation of implicit attitudes in the surgeon-nurse relationship.

BackgroundOptimizing the surgeon-nurse relationship to improve interprofessional communication is increasingly recognized as an essential component of patient care. The increasing number of women surgeons has altered the surgeon-nurse dynamic, which has traditionally been a male-female relationship. In particular, this shift has raised the issue of whether implicit perceptions regarding gender and demeanor influence the interactions between surgeons and nurses. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to understand nurses' implicit perceptions of surgeons, with a particular focus on gender and gender-normative demeanor. We defined two types of demeanor: communal, which is classically associated with women and includes being supportive and nurturing, and agentic, which is a male-associated trait that includes being direct and assertive.MethodsWe administered surveys to 1701 nurses at the main campus of our institution. Each survey had one of eight possible scenarios; all began with a short description of a surgeon who was described as accomplished and well-trained, then varied by surgeon gender (male/female), surgeon demeanor (agentic/communal) and type of surgery (breast cancer/lung cancer). Using a 0 to 5 scale, respondents rated their perception of the surgeon through five questions. These five items were averaged to create a composite perception score scaled from 0 to 5.ResultsWe received 493 surveys. The overall average perception score was 3.8±0.99. Respondents had a statistically significant preference for the communal surgeon (4.1±0.91) versus the agentic surgeon (3.6±1.0, p<0.001). There were no significant main effects of surgeon gender or surgery type.ConclusionNurses demonstrated a significant preference for communal surgeons, regardless of surgeon gender

Medical Students' Perceptions of Surgeons: Implications for Teaching and Recruitment.

ObjectiveThe purpose of this study was to assess first-year medical students' implicit perceptions of surgeons, focusing on the roles of gender and demeanor (communal = supportive, associated with women; agentic = assertive, associated with men).DesignSurvey study. Each survey had 1 of 8 possible scenarios; all began with a short description of a surgeon who was described as accomplished and well trained, then varied by surgeon gender (male/female), surgeon demeanor (agentic/communal), and type of surgery (breast cancer/lung cancer). Using a 0 to 5 scale, respondents rated their perception of the surgeon through 5 questions. These 5 items were averaged to create a composite perception score scaled from 0 to 5.SettingSurveys were administered at the University of California, San Francisco, and the University of California, Los Angeles.ParticipantsWe administered surveys to 333 first-year medical students who could read English and voluntarily agreed to participate.ResultsA total of 238 students responded (71.5%). They preferred the communal vs agentic surgeon (4.2 ± 0.7 vs 3.9 ± 0.7, p = 0.002) and male medical students perceived surgeons more favorably than female medical students did (4.2 ± 0.6 vs 4.0 ± 0.8, p = 0.036). The preference score did not differ according to surgeon gender (female 4.12 vs male 3.98, p = 0.087). There were no significant interactions between the factors of student gender, surgeon gender, or demeanor. Students who reported an interest in surgery as a career did not perceive surgeons more favorably than the students interested in other fields (4.3 ± 0.7 vs 4.0 ± 0.7 respectively, p = 0.066).ConclusionsBased on our findings, surgeon educators would likely find success in teaching and recruiting medical students by employing a communal demeanor in their interactions with all students, regardless of the students' gender or stated interest in surgery