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. 2020;40(1):13-17.

Women in Orthopedics and their Fellowship Choice: What Influenced their Specialty Choice?

Kathryn M Jurenovich  1 , Lisa K Cannada  2
Affiliations

Women in Orthopedics and their Fellowship Choice: What Influenced their Specialty Choice?

Kathryn M Jurenovich et al. Iowa Orthop J. 2020.

Abstract

Background: Female orthopedic surgeons have different life choices, experiences, and influences that may alter their decisions when choosing a fellowship. There is no data that describes why women choose their specialty and if it is related to their mentorship, athletic background, family, family planning, physical attributes needed, location, practice setting, or discrimination.After a five year orthopedic residency, what influences their specialty choice to work in a specific field?Questions/ purposes: To understand why women in orthopedics chose a certain fellowship and if they are influenced by any specific factor.

Methods: A 28 question survey created through SurveyMonkey was emailed to all members of the Ruth Jackson Orthopedic Society (RJOS) in July 2019. After six weeks the survey was closed and data was analyzed through SurveyMonkey.

Results: 252 members of RJOS completed the 28 question survey. 94% of the women who responded did a fellowship after their orthopedic residency. 62% chose their fellowship specialty based on pure enjoyment. 79% were not influenced by a female role model, 92% were not influenced by a significant other, 85% were not influenced by wanting children or a family, and 96% were not influenced by being pregnant or planning on being pregnant. 64% were not influenced by physical attributes or perception of strength needed for the specialty.

Conclusions: 94% of the women who responded did a fellowship after their orthopedic residency and 62% chose their fellowship specialty based on pure enjoyment. It was not found that female mentorship, family, pregnancy, significant other, or physical attributes contributed to their fellowship choice.Level of Evidence: V.

Keywords: fellowship; orthopedics; residency; ruth jackson orthopedic society; specialty; women.

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Conflict of interest statement

Disclosures: The authors report no potential conflicts of interest related to this study.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Women in orthopedics survey.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Did you do a fellowship? Answered 252.
Figure 3
Figure 3
What fellowship did you go into? Answered: 243.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Were you a college athlete? Answered: 252.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Do you have any family members that were surgeons? Answered: 252.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Did you ever feel discriminated against (bullied, harassed, sexually harassed) when pursuing/interviewing for fellowship?
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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    1. Cannada Lisa K. “Women in Orthopaedic Fellowships: What Is Their Match Rate, and What Specialties Do They Choose?”. Clin Orthop Relat Res. 2016;474(9):1957–61. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Rohde R, Wolf JM, Adams JE. Where are the Women in Orthopedic Surgery? Clin Orthop Relat Res. 2016;474:1950–1956. - PMC - PubMed
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