Section of Neurosurgery, Department of Surgery, Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi, Pakistan.
Section of Neurosurgery, Department of Surgery, Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi, Pakistan.
World Neurosurg. 2024 Mar;183:5-13. doi: 10.1016/j.wneu.2023.12.016. Epub 2023 Dec 7.
Despite 15,000 annual medical graduates, few choose neurosurgery, especially women. The scarcity of female neurosurgeons is a global concern, particularly in resource-limited settings such as Pakistan. This study focuses on gender-based differences in medical student perceptions of neurosurgery in Pakistan.
A nationwide cross-sectional study was conducted from March 6 to April 20, 2023, using a Web-based survey. Data collectors were recruited through an ambassadorship program, distributed evenly across all provinces. A questionnaire was used after a pilot study. Data analysis was performed using SPSS version 26 and STATA 15.
A total of 2353 medical students participated in the study, of which 63.4% were female and 36.5% were male. Around 40.3% of women strongly agreed to the existence of potential gender bias in neurosurgery, in contrast to their corresponding male students, at 17.3%. Some of the highlighted deterring factors in pursuing neurosurgery as a career according to women include longer training duration (44.6%), poor work-life balance (41%), limited residency slots (50.6%), and limited exposure to neurosurgery (45.1%). Other factors included the high-intensity nature of training (33.6%), perceived gender bias (31.4%), competitive work environment (29.1%), complex surgical skills (38.6%), required level of medical knowledge (29.6%), and financial burden (33.9%).
Our study shows that female students are more likely to believe in the existence of potential gender bias in the field compared with their counterpart male participants, which highlights the graveness of the situation in view of the evident paucity of female neurosurgeons in the country.
尽管每年有 15000 名医学专业毕业生，但选择神经外科的人却寥寥无几，尤其是女性。女性神经外科医生的短缺是一个全球性的问题，尤其是在巴基斯坦等资源有限的国家。本研究主要关注巴基斯坦医学生对神经外科的看法中存在的性别差异。
本研究于 2023 年 3 月 6 日至 4 月 20 日采用基于网络的调查进行了一项全国性的横断面研究。数据收集员通过一个大使计划招募，在所有省份均匀分布。在试点研究后使用问卷进行数据收集。使用 SPSS 版本 26 和 STATA 15 进行数据分析。
共有 2353 名医学生参加了这项研究，其中 63.4%是女性，36.5%是男性。大约 40.3%的女性强烈同意神经外科存在潜在的性别偏见，而相应的男性学生则为 17.3%。一些女性认为阻碍她们从事神经外科职业的因素包括培训时间更长（44.6%）、工作与生活平衡差（41%）、住院医师名额有限（50.6%）、接触神经外科机会有限（45.1%）。其他因素包括培训强度高（33.6%）、认为存在性别偏见（31.4%）、竞争激烈的工作环境（29.1%）、复杂的手术技能（38.6%）、所需医学知识水平高（29.6%）和经济负担重（33.9%）。
我们的研究表明，与男性参与者相比，女性学生更有可能相信该领域存在潜在的性别偏见，考虑到该国女性神经外科医生明显短缺，这突显了这一情况的严重性。
