Female Gastroenterologists Report Mastering Endoscopic Skills Later and Are Less Likely to Have Children. A Regional Survey

Abstract

Background and Aims: Despite the reduction of the gender gap in medicine, uneven gender distribution has remained in several medical fields, including gastroenterology. We aimed to evaluate differences in clinical and academic training between male and female gastroenterologists.

Methods: We distributed a web-based survey to physicians who have completed their training and are currently working in the field of gastroenterology in five Balkan countries: Serbia, Republic of North Macedonia, Montenegro, Greece and Romania.

Results: The questionnaire was sent to 1220 physicians. A total of 229 questionnaires were filled out and 214 were included in the analysis. The overall response rate was 18.8%. Almost half of respondents were women (n=97, 45.3%). The proportion of male physicians having children was higher compared to females, which was of statistical significance (88.0% vs. 64.9%, p<0.05). Women have in general reported beginning endoscopic training as well as mastering endoscopic procedures later in clinical training, when compared to males. On average, males reported higher median time in performing endoscopies per week, as well as higher grades in self-assessment scales in colonoscopy performance.

Conclusions: Gender inequity exists during the gastroenterology clinical training. Women are especially vulnerable during the training period because training years coincide with the expected childbearing age and are therefore less likely to have children compared to their male colleagues.