Reflection of Trainee Class Gender Proportion in the Leadership of Minimally Invasive Gynecologic Surgery Fellowships

Abstract

Study Objective: To describe the gender makeup of historic fellow classes, as well as those in the roles of associate program director and program director. To determine the representation ratio of the current fellowship program leadership related to historic fellowship class gender proportion. Design: Retrospective observational study. Setting: Fellowship in minimally invasive gynecologic surgery (FMIGS) sites. Participants: No patient data were captured or used in this study. The subjects included all FMIGS fellows, program directors, and associate program directors for whom there was publicly available data from 2001 to present. Interventions: Not applicable. Measurements and Main Results: Most FMIGS fellow classes have consisted of mostly female surgeons ranging from 40% to 89% female. The representation ratios for the current program leadership are 0.57, 0.82, and 0.71 for program directors, associate program directors, and all leadership positions, respectively. Conclusion: Representation ratios indicate that the current gender makeup of program leadership is not representative of the gender makeup of graduated fellow classes.