Oklahoma State University Center for Health Services
Abstract
Objective: To determine if the creation of integrated surgical programs has increased the recruitment of women into surgical residencies.Summary Background Data: Historically, there have been disproportionately lower numbers of women entering surgical residency programs compared to the percentage of women physicians. Per the ACGME, in 2017, women comprised 45.8% of all residents in training but just 29.9% of surgical residents. We sought to determine if certain factors, specifically integrated surgical programs, have made an impact on the number of women in surgical specialties.Methods: Data regarding surgical residents and physicians was extracted from the Accreditation Council of Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) Data Resource Books and ACGME Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) Physician Specialty Data Reports from 2007-2018.Results: Overall, integrated surgical programs consistently report increased percentages of women compared to non- integrated surgical programs.Conclusions: The creation of integrated surgical programs has increased and will likely continue to increase the proportion of women in surgical residencies
