A study indicated that the gender of a patient’s surgeon has no bearing on their likelihood of problems.
Male and female gastrointestinal surgeons had comparable rates of death and surgical complications, according to Japanese experts.
In the study, female surgeons were more likely to be given high-risk patients and had less experience than their male counterparts.
Despite assumptions to the contrary, the findings indicate that some patients’ anxieties regarding the gender of their surgeon are unwarranted.
From 2013 to 2017, researchers from Japan Baptist Hospital in Kyoto and the University of Tokyo collected data from the Japanese National Clinical Database and reported their findings in BMJ.
The database contains more than ninety-five percent of operations conducted in the East Asian country.
In total, approximately 150,000 surgical procedures were evaluated, with male physicians performing 95 percent of them.
Less than one percent of patients involved in the study perished as a result of complications arising from the operation.
The fatality rate did not differ depending on the gender of the operating surgeon.
Incorporating only distal gastrectomy procedures – in which a portion of the stomach is removed – and total gastrectomy procedures – in which the entire stomach is removed – revealed no difference in compilations or mortality.
A little more than one percent of patients who underwent any form of gastrointestinal surgery experienced problems of grade three or above, with no significant gender differences.
Despite job quality parallels with men, the research team notes that women in the profession continue to confront obstacles.
Researchers noted, “the lack of role models is frequently cited as a hindrance to the careers of female surgeons.”
Female surgeons experience interprofessional conflict because of communication problems.
Furthermore, female doctors find it challenging to obtain leadership roles.
More women are beginning to enter the area of surgery. The Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) reported in 2020 that women comprised 36.3% of the physician workforce in the United States in 2019.
This is an increase from only 28% in 2007. Nonetheless, they constitute a minority of the workforce.
However, women are still overrepresented in sectors associated with children, pregnancy, and female health.
Michael Dill, the AAMC’s head of workforce research, said in a statement accompanying the findings, “We have a great deal of work to do in terms of gender equity.”
If the majority of female physicians are still concentrated in a small number of specialties, then we have not reached our goal.
