Factors affecting choice of surgical residency training program

Background. A significant problem facing American surgery today is the lack of participation from women and minorities. In 1995 and 1996, 15.1 and 15. 8% of United States general surgical residency graduates were women. Of our 71 graduates in the last 12 years, 38% were women. The aim of this study w as to identify the factors influencing our residents' choice of training pr ogram and the reasons why our program has a high percentage of female gradu ates. Methods. Between 1989 and 2000, 27 women sind 44 men completed general surg ical training at our university and 44/71 (59%) responded to our survey. Th e age at residency completion was 34 +/- 2.2 years for men and 33.9 +/- 2.8 years for women. Fifty-five percent of men and 30% of women went on to fel lowship training; and 36% of men and 20% of women are in academia. Results. Factors influencing our graduates' selection of training program a re: [GRAPHICS] Only 23% of men had a female faculty as their mentor, whereas 90% of women had a male faculty as their mentor during training. Only 59% of men but 80% of women (P < 0.05) agreed that female medical students need role models o f successful female faculty members. Fifty-five percent of men and 45% of w omen would encourage a female medical student to choose surgery as a career , but 82% of men and 50% of women would encourage a male medical student to do so. Ninety-one percent of men and 85% of women would choose surgery as a career again. Conclusions. A surgical residency training program with strong leadership, good clinical experience, and high resident morale will equally attract bot h genders. Women may pay more attention to the program's gender mix and geo graphic location. (C) 2001 Academic Press.