Yang Lucy, Bush Ruth L, Ozsvath Kathleen, Humphries Misty D, Harth Karem
Division of Vascular Surgery, Stanford Health Care, Palo Alto, CA.
Division of Vascular Surgery, The University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX.
J Vasc Surg Venous Lymphat Disord. 2025 Mar 25;13(4):102239. doi: 10.1016/j.jvsv.2025.102239.
Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) within the physician workforce is critical to establishing a diverse provider network that accurately represents the patient population served by vascular surgeons. Vascular surgery remains a largely male-dominated surgical specialty, and the number of women in leadership positions in academic surgical specialties continues to be disproportionate. The representation of women in leadership roles differs across vascular surgery societies. The goal of this study is to provide an update on the representation of women and incorporation of DEI topics at American Venous Forum (AVF) annual meetings and across committees.
A retrospective review was conducted of available scientific meeting programs and abstracts presented at the AVF from 2010 to 2023. The time period was divided into before 2019 and after 2019, as this was the year that the Society for Vascular Surgery established the Task Force on DEI. Women's participation and DEI domains were documented for each year. A two-sample unpaired t-test was used to compare mean percentages.
Specifically, within the AVF, women's representation across all roles (presenters, senior authors, moderators, committee chairs, committee members, and officers) has increased when comparing prior years (2010-2019) with a more recent time period (2020-2023). The largest increase was observed for moderators (12.6% vs 30.2%; +17.6%), and the smallest increase was observed for presenters (21.1% vs 28.9%; +7.8%). When comparing the same time periods, the mean percentage of DEI domains (access to care, race and ethnicity, gender, age, health literacy, and socioeconomic status) highlighted in research presentations at AVF annual meetings has increased numerically over time but is not statistically significant except for the DEI domain of age (1.34% vs 3.28%; P = .0008).
Although there have been positive improvements in the proportion of women in leadership roles at the AVF, the integration of DEI domains at AVF annual meetings continues to show slow progress. This study reflects an opportunity for AVF leaders and councils to prioritize strategies to incorporate important DEI domains into our annual meetings and mission-related efforts. Intentional progress in these areas will ultimately contribute to more successfully carrying out the AVF Core Values (VEINS: Values and integrity, Education, Inclusivity, equity, diversity, Nurturing, Scientific excellence and research).
医师队伍中的多样性、公平性和包容性（DEI）对于建立一个能够准确代表血管外科所服务患者群体的多元化医疗服务网络至关重要。血管外科在很大程度上仍是男性主导的外科专业，学术外科专业中担任领导职务的女性人数仍然不成比例。女性在血管外科协会担任领导角色的情况各不相同。本研究的目的是提供关于美国静脉论坛（AVF）年会及各委员会中女性代表情况以及DEI主题纳入情况的最新信息。
对2010年至2023年在AVF上发表的现有科学会议议程和摘要进行回顾性分析。时间段分为2019年之前和2019年之后，因为这一年血管外科学会成立了DEI特别工作组。记录每年女性的参与情况和DEI领域。使用两样本非配对t检验比较平均百分比。
具体而言，在AVF内部，与之前年份（2010 - 2019年）相比，在最近时间段（2020 - 2023年），女性在所有角色（演讲者、资深作者、主持人、委员会主席、委员会成员和官员）中的占比都有所增加。主持人的增幅最大（12.6%对30.2%；增长17.6%），演讲者的增幅最小（21.1%对28.9%；增长7.8%）。在比较相同时间段时，AVF年会研究报告中突出的DEI领域（获得医疗服务、种族和族裔、性别、年龄、健康素养和社会经济地位）的平均百分比随着时间推移在数值上有所增加，但除年龄这一DEI领域外（1.34%对3.28%；P = 0.0008），在统计学上并不显著。
尽管AVF中担任领导职务的女性比例有了积极改善，但AVF年会中DEI领域的整合进展仍然缓慢。本研究为AVF的领导人和理事会提供了一个机会，使其能够优先考虑将重要的DEI领域纳入我们的年会和与使命相关的工作中的策略。在这些领域取得有意为之的进展最终将有助于更成功地践行AVF的核心价值观（VEINS：价值观与诚信、教育、包容性、公平、多样性、培育、科学卓越与研究）。
