THE ROLE OF GENDER IN ORTHOPEDIC SURGERY: FACTORS INFLUENCING SUBSPECIALTY SELECTION AND MENTORSHIP GAPS
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Keywords
Gender Disparities, Orthopedic Subspecialty, Mentorship Gaps, Career Development
Abstract
The study studied what affects orthopedic surgeons when they select their subspecialties and included examining perceived difficulty, life factors, teachers and gender. Those taking part gave their gender, age, years of experience and rated the choices influencing their field on Likert scales. Information from 150 people (91 women and 59 men) was looked at using descriptive statistics and two-tailed Student’s t-tests (α=0.05). Outcomes showed that gender didn’t influence differences in how mentorship, work-life balance, career progress, subspecialty settings, pay, family matters or scheduling influenced their decisions. Yet, women were more likely than men to be affected by views on bodily strength, how subspecialties look, being discriminated against and sharing the workplace with their gender. Approximately one quarter of female respondents said they were discouraged from choosing some subspecialties, compared to only 10% of male respondents (p<0.05) and frequent reasons given were adult reconstructive surgery and oncology. Women were more likely to use special strategies during surgery (p<0.001) and regularly experienced others thinking they could not do the task. For both genders, mentorship played the most significant part, but there are still many fewer female mentors. Even though it takes time to complete a training pathway, the latest statistics prove there are now more chances for female mentorship in the field. Although women do as well as men in their training and surgery outcomes, the idea of strength continues to limit their choice of subspecialty. Since there are more jobs for orthopedic surgeons now and not many women get involved, it is important to focus on helping female orthopedic surgeons. Women in orthopedic surgery can benefit more from inclusive programs and learning opportunities.
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Dr. Buchupalli Bharath Reddy
Associate Professor, Deportment of Orthopeadics, Prathima Relief Institute of Medical Sciences, Nagunur, Karimnagar
Dr A Indra Sai Vamsi
Assistant Professor, Deportment of Orthopedics, Katuri Medical College & Hospital, Guntur, Andhra Pradesh, India.
D. Jothieswari
Sri Venkateswara College of Pharmacy, RVS Nagar, Chittoor-517127, Andhra Pradesh, India.
M.S. Riyazullah
Sri Venkateswara College of Pharmacy, RVS Nagar, Chittoor-517127, Andhra Pradesh, India.