Department of Surgery, Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, Newark, New Jersey.
Department of Surgery, Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, Newark, New Jersey.
J Surg Res. 2019 Dec;244:343-347. doi: 10.1016/j.jss.2019.06.031. Epub 2019 Jul 13.
Workforce trends in surgery demonstrate persistent gender inequity. Humanitarian surgical outreach opportunities exist for surgeons; however, it is unclear as to whether gender disparities exist in this arena. This pilot study examines gender equity among volunteer surgeons using a decade of compiled data from a surgical nongovernmental organization (NGO) that hosts multinational surgical outreach. We aim to evaluate gender proportions among surgical volunteers, compare the gender profiles of NGO surgeons with local and nationwide cohorts, and examine the productive output of surgical volunteers by gender.
A retrospective review was conducted of the records of the International Surgical Health Initiative, an NGO that hosts short-term surgical missions, to generate a demographic roster of volunteers between 2009 and 2018. Comparisons were made of gender profiles within volunteer cohorts against local institutional data and nationwide surgical workforce data. Productivity outputs of surgical volunteers were compared. Chi-square tests and Wilcoxon two-sample statistical t-tests were used.
A total of 23 short-term surgical trips were inclusive of 227 volunteers, and 61% (139) were female. Physicians were less likely to be female than other volunteers. In addition, nonsurgical volunteers were more likely to be female compared with surgical volunteers (67% versus 44%, P < 0.01). No gender differences were observed by average number of trips or propensity for repeat trips among surgical volunteers. No differences were found in proportions of female surgical attendings and residents in the NGO cohort compared with the local and national cohorts.
Females contribute substantially to surgical outreach, representing more than half the volunteers in this organization. Gender profiles of female surgeons in this NGO are in parity with those of surgical attendings and residents in the national census. Male and female volunteer surgeons are equally productive. There is an equitable gender representation among volunteer surgeons in this NGO. Further studies of other surgical organizations participating in surgical outreach are required toward a more complete understanding of female participation in international humanitarian efforts.
手术领域的劳动力趋势表明存在持续的性别不平等。人道主义外展手术机会存在于外科医生中；然而，在这个领域是否存在性别差距尚不清楚。这项试点研究使用一个外科非政府组织（NGO）十年来的汇编数据，调查了志愿外科医生中的性别平等情况，该组织主办多国外科外展活动。我们旨在评估外科志愿者中的性别比例，比较 NGO 外科医生与当地和全国外科医生队伍的性别特征，并按性别检查外科志愿者的生产成果。
对国际外科学健康倡议（International Surgical Health Initiative）的记录进行了回顾性审查，该 NGO 主办短期外科学任务，以生成 2009 年至 2018 年志愿者的人口统计名单。在志愿者队列内比较了性别特征与当地机构数据和全国外科劳动力数据。比较了外科志愿者的生产力成果。使用了卡方检验和 Wilcoxon 两样本 t 检验。
共有 23 次短期外科学旅行，包括 227 名志愿者，其中 61%（139 名）为女性。医生比其他志愿者更不可能是女性。此外，与外科志愿者相比，非外科志愿者更有可能是女性（67%对 44%，P<0.01）。在外派旅行次数或重复旅行的倾向方面，外科志愿者中没有发现性别差异。与当地和全国队列相比，该 NGO 队列中的女性外科主治医生和住院医师的比例没有差异。
女性对外展手术做出了重大贡献，在该组织中占志愿者的一半以上。该 NGO 中女性外科医生的性别特征与全国外科医生普查中的外科主治医生和住院医师相当。男性和女性志愿外科医生的生产力相等。该 NGO 志愿外科医生中有公平的性别代表性。需要对参与外展手术的其他外科组织进行进一步研究，以更全面地了解女性参与国际人道主义努力的情况。
