Women and specialty choice: why not anesthesiology?

The number of women in all medical specialties increased during the 1970s and 1980s. Anesthesiology residency programs experienced unprecedented growth from 1980 to 1986. We reviewed statistics published by the American Medical Association to investigate the relationship between the increase in female residents in all specialties compared to that for individual specialties including anesthesiology, pathology, surgery, pediatrics, obstetrics/gynecology, radiology, internal medicine, and psychiatry. We found an above average rate of growth for female residents in gynecology, pediatrics, and internal medicine; pathology, radiology, psychiatry, surgery, and anesthesiology showed a below average rate of growth. Studies have shown a correlation between gender and choice of specialty. Factors influencing the differences in choice and the decrease in the percentage of women choosing anesthesiology are unknown.