Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2025 Apr 24;6(1):476-481.
doi: 10.1089/whr.2024.0165. eCollection 2025.

Female Pediatrics Residency Program Directors: Position Length, Program Size, and Career Impact

Liam M Courtney  1 , Ankith G Rao  1 , Veronica Vuong  2 , Avani Vaghela  3 , Amanda Brooks  2 , Gregg C Lund  4
Affiliations

Female Pediatrics Residency Program Directors: Position Length, Program Size, and Career Impact

Liam M Courtney et al. Womens Health Rep (New Rochelle). .

Abstract

Background: Currently, the majority of pediatricians are female. However, it is unknown if that general representation is seen along the academic continuum. This study aimed to describe the sex distribution, position duration, and program size of pediatric residency program directors (PDs) and compare female PD representation to other roles along the academic continuum.

Methods: Data from all 213 U.S. pediatric residency programs were obtained from publicly available sources. Female representation along the professional academic continuum is obtained from publicly available sources. PD position duration was divided into three groups: short (<5 years), medium (5-10 years), and long (>10 years). Program size was based on the total resident count: small (<31 residents), medium (31-60 residents), and large (<60 residents).

Results: The majority of PDs, 153 (72%), were classified as female. Within each duration grouping, there were significantly more females than males. There was no significant difference in the within-sex distribution of duration grouping in the current PD position between female and male PDs. There were significantly more females than males in each program size group. The within-sex distribution of the program size grouping was not statistically different between female and male PDs. Females are less represented in academic positions with greater authority, such as pediatrics department chairs (33.3%) or medical school permanent deans (27%), compared to 72% of PDs.

Conclusion: Females are well-represented as pediatric PDs, but underrepresented in medical school positions with greater authority. Understanding the reasons for this is needed to ensure diverse and representative medical school leadership.

Keywords: gender leadership disparities; medical education leadership; medical leadership career development.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Marrast LM, Zallman L, Woolhandler S, et al. Minority physicians’ role in the care of underserved patients: Diversifying the physician workforce may be key in addressing health disparities. JAMA Intern Med 2014;174(2):289–291; doi: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2013.12756 - DOI - PubMed
    1. The Program Director Guide to the Common Program Requirements (Residency). Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, revised March 2023. Available from: https://www.acgme.org/globalassets/PFAssets/ProgramResources/PDGuideResi... [Last accessed: September 1, 2023].
    1. Slater AC, Thomas AA, Quan L, et al. Gender discrimination and sexual harassment in a department of pediatrics. Pediatrics 2022;150(6):1–11; doi: 10.1542/peds.2021-055933 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) Public Accreditation Data System. Available from: https://apps.acgme.org/ads/public/ [Last accessed: January 22, 2023].
    1. American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine. 2021-22 Osteopathic Medical College First-Year Enrollment by Gender and Race/Ethnicity, AACOM, March 19, 2022. Available from: https://www.aacom.org/searches/reports/report/2021-22_tenroll_gender_re_com [Last accessed: September 1, 2023].

LinkOut - more resources