Sex diversity within U.S. residencies: a cross-sectional study of trends from 2011 to 2019

BACKGROUND: Despite females comprising 50.8% of the U.S. population, the percentage of females in the physician workforce is only 36.3%. Studies have examined sex trends within select specialties, however there is insufficient literature studying trends across all specialties. In this study, the authors examined trends in the proportion of female residents from 2011 to 2019 across all specialties, including both surgical and non-surgical. METHODS: Data on the proportion of female residents from 2011 to 2019 in all specialties was extracted from the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) Data Resource Books and analyzed with the chi-square test for trend. RESULTS: From 2011 to 2019, there was a statistically significant increase in the percentage of female residents in surgical specialties (p < 0.001) and no significant change in the percentage of female residents in non-surgical specialties. In the same time period, the specialty with the highest percentage of females was Obstetrics & Gynecology (81.3%), and the specialty with the lowest percentage of females was Orthopedic Surgery (13.8%). CONCLUSIONS: Although there has been a positive overall trend in the percentage of females entering medical and surgical specialties, the percentage of females in medicine overall still lies below that of the entire population. Increased efforts are needed to increase female representation in medicine, especially in the U.S. in specialties where they are traditionally underrepresented.