The long road to gender equity in surgery

The issue of gender equity continues to pervade all aspects of medicine and surgery. Despite gender parity among students entering medical school in most western countries, studies have shown that women are less likely to enter surgery, more likely to drop out of surgical training, and less likely to secure a consultant position in a teaching hospital on completion of training.123

Gender inequity persists even for female consultant surgeons.4 Studies have shown preferential referral from male doctors to male surgeons, reduced opportunity for promotion to leadership roles, and worse remuneration—all despite female surgeons having equal or possibly better patient outcomes than male surgeons.56

In a linked paper (doi:10.1136/bmj-2022-070568), Okoshi and colleagues compared the surgical outcomes of male and female surgeons in Japan after three common procedures (distal gastrectomy, total gastrectomy, and low anterior resection).7 The researchers used the Japanese National …