VESS22 - Gender Differences in Perceptions and Attitudes Towards Vascular Surgery Among Prospective Preclinical Medical Students

Wednesday, June 14, 2023

4:52 PM – 4:59 PM ET

Submitting & Presenting Author(s)

Moira A. McGevna

Medical Student
Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School
New Brunswick, New Jersey

Co-Author(s)

Jerry Zhu, BS

Medical Student
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
New York, New York
EL

Elizabeth Lavanga

Medical Student
Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine
VS

Vaishnavi Siripurapu

Medical Student
East Carolina University Brody School of Medicine
Greenville, North Carolina
Lucy Yang, BS

Medical Student
Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine
Cleveland, Ohio
CL

Cayetana Lazcano

Medical Student
Ponce Health Sciences University
LD

Leana Dogbe

Medical Student
Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine
University Park, Pennsylvania
Shourya Verma, BA

Medical Student
Michigan State University College of Human Medicine
East Lansing, Michigan
TB

Thomas Boland
TS

Thomas Syphan
CD

Chaitu Dandu
KK

Kate Kim

Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School
New Brunswick, New Jersey
PS

Prashant Saini

Medical Student
George Washington Univeresity School of Medicine
Washington, District of Columbia
TC

Thomas W. Cheng, MS

Medical Student
Boston University Chobanian and Avedisian School of Medicine
Boston, Massachusetts

Discussant(s)

VH

Vy T. Ho, MD, MS

Integrated Vascular Surgery Resident
Stanford University
Stanford, California

Objectives: Women account for approximately 15% of the vascular surgery workforce, yet represent 50% of all medical school matriculants. Despite a focus on increasing diversity among vascular surgeons, gender disparities in vascular surgery persist. In order to encourage increased representation of women entering vascular specialties, efforts have been made at the national level to create programs for mentorship and leadership development; however, efforts to increase awareness of vascular surgery at early stages of training have been limited. We aimed to characterize the attitudes and perceptions of prospective female vascular trainees in the preclinical phase of medical school.

Methods: A panel hosted virtually by the Vascular and Endovascular Surgical Society (VESS) National Vascular Surgery Interest Group (VSIG) was held to introduce the field of vascular surgery to prospective medical students with limited exposure to vascular surgery. Attendees to this event were asked to complete an anonymous survey prior to the start of the panel. Student’s t-test and Chi-squared test were used to compare survey responses by gender.

Results: Out of the 114 attendees, there were 52 responses to the survey. Women made up 48.1% of respondents and were first(44.0%) and second year(56.0%) medical students. There were a similar number of Asian and White respondents of both genders, however, there were less women who identified as Black or Hispanic as compared to men (8.0% vs 14.8%, P<.001)(Table I). A greater number of men were interested in vascular surgery as compared to women(48.1% vs 36.0%,P <.001) at the time of the survey; however, women were more likely to be interested in other surgical specialties (ENT, orthopedics, cardiothoracic surgery, ophthalmology)(Table I). Female respondents were significantly less interested in the 5+2 vascular surgery training paradigm as compared to male respondents (P=0.012)(Table II). A greater percentage of women reported that they did not have a VSIG at their home institution (32.0% vs 14.8%, P<.001)(Table I).

Conclusions: Female respondents had similar interest in integrated vascular surgery programs as male counterparts, but were less interested in the 5+2 training paradigm. With the expansion of integrated programs, students may be encouraged to commit to a specialty earlier in training, however, female respondents were less likely to have a VSIG to facilitate early introductions to vascular surgery. These results highlight the need for early recruitment strategies towards women and an increased focus on establishing VSIGs at institutions.