Practice differences between male and female oral and maxillofacial surgeons: Survey results and analysis

Purpose: This study describes the personal and practice characteristics of oral and maxillofacial surgeons, with an emphasis on gender differences. Po tential explanations for differences found are offered. Materials and Methods: A 39-item questionnaire was designed to address area s of suspected differences between male and female oral and maxillofacial s urgeons. It included items regarding training, certification, practice type and location, time spent working, practice composition, and personal chara cteristics. Identical questionnaires were sent to all of the 130 female ora l and maxillofacial surgeons (OMSs) registered with AAOMS, as well as to 26 4 randomly sampled male OMSs. Results: Of the 192 responses received, 109 were from male surgeons, and 83 were from females, 56.8% versus 43.2% of the total. For men, the response rate was 41.3%, whereas the rate was 68.3% for the women; overall, 48.7% of the 394 oral surgeons responded. Profiles of the "average" male and female OMS showed similarities with regard to race, training, and reasons for cho osing an OMS career. Age, marital status, number of children, physical char acteristics, and use of time outside of work indicated some significant per sonal differences, as did practice characteristics, including income, numbe r of years in practice, hours spent working, and number of patients seen. C lear gender-based trends were found regarding opinions of physical and mech anical disadvantages, with women more strongly denying such problems. A var iety of both positive and negative viewpoints were elicited by the free com ment section. Conclusions: Although male and female OMSs are similar with regard to most variables investigated, some significant differences do exist.