Male:Female Ratio in Anesthesia?

[dbiddy808]

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What is the ratio like? I don't recall seeing many women when I interviewed.

 

[MS3NavyFS2B]

What is the ratio like? I don't recall seeing many women when I interviewed.

women are flocking to gas these days, especially to those interested in having families and successful marriages.

 

[cchoukal]

at 10 programs around the country (midwest, East coast, Northwest, North Calif.) I've seen barely 20% women among faculty, residents, and applicants. I didn't appreciate much of a difference between these 3 groups, but if forced, I'd admit I've seen very few female applicants on my interview days. There were actually quite a few women at Stanford, both residents and applicants. This is a limited sample, and I do believe overall there are more woman going into this than in the past, so take this free commentary for what it's worth.

 

[jetmetnet]

women are flocking to gas these days, especially to those interested in having families and successful marriages.

Obviously this person does not know what he/she is talking about because I have actually been on the interview trail and there were always far less women there. I would say that at about a group of 20 people, there were usually about 5-6 women on a good day. What is important is that there are a lot of women that are in high positions in Anesthesia. Yale, Columbia, NYMC(Weschester), UMDNJ Newark and I am forgetting the others have female chairs. I personally did not choose to go into Anesthesia because I thought I would have a successful marriage or because I wanted to have children, but because I love the field and there are a wide number of oppurtunities within anesthesia. If that was the case, why am I only one of two women in my class of 180 going into Anesthesia. Women are flocking to gas for some of the same similar reasons why everybody else is flocking to gas.

 

[Skip Intro]

I'd say, based on my empiric observations, it's about a 4:1 (male:female) ratio. Every interview I've been on, every department I've interacted with, and every residency class that I've visited has reflected this. So, if you are a female applying, you've probably got a great shot at getting a spot. There definitely should be more women in gas. There's absolutely no reason why it should be otherwise.

-Skip

 

[j_sde]

just to add...

BID and UCLA both have female chairs also.

 

[MS3NavyFS2B]

I'd say, based on my empiric observations, it's about a 4:1 (male:female) ratio. Every interview I've been on, every department I've interacted with, and every residency class that I've visited has reflected this. So, if you are a female applying, you've probably got a great shot at getting a spot. There definitely should be more women in gas. There's absolutely no reason why it should be otherwise.

-Skip

Thus, what Skip is essentially saying is simply that the state of being female alone increases one's chances of matching is a relatively non-competitive specialty. What a sad state of affairs. But this sparks another debate...

Women in medicine is an interesting topic. Many medical schools have made an effort to admit more female medical students than they would have otherwise based on merit and desert alone. Keeping this in mind, with the amount of female physicians taking time off from medicine or working less than full-time, it is a wonder if medical schools are really serving their respective communities with respect supplying physicians in the future.

In any event, anesthesiology is an ideal specialty for female medical students, who are typically average to below-average students (an hypothesis for which there is abundant evidence, and a notion that Larry Summers, Harvard’s President himself advanced), since it is currently not competitive. Other more competitive specialties like radiology and rad onc preclude such students.

These days, though, there is a reversal in the liberal, independent, working-woman's philosophy, the description of which is abound (see 60 Min), which is that formally educated women are now actually choosing to stay at home with the family.

 

[achieman]

official numbers of CURRENT residents is 26.1% female. The other stats are as follow:

Anesthesiology



General Program Information
Academic year 2003

Number of accredited programs 133
Length of accredited training 3/4
Minimum number of prior years required 1/0
Offers graduate year 1 positions, available immediately upon medical school completion No
Average number of PY1 interviews 83.2

Residents
Total number of active residents/fellows 4,719
Average number of residents/fellows 35.4
Average percent female 26.1%
Average percent international medical graduates 26.7%

Faculty
Average number of full-time physician faculty 38.7
Average number of part-time physician faculty 3.4
Average percent female full-time physician faculty 25.2%
Average ratio of full-time physician faculty to resident/fellow 1.3

Resident Work Hours (PY1)
Average hours on duty per week 60.8
Average maximum consecutive hours on duty 23.9
Average days off duty per week 1.6

Work Environment and Compensation (PY1)
Average percent of training in hospital outpatient clinics 10.9%
Average percent of training in non-hospital ambulatory care community settings 1.6%
Average resident/fellow compensation $39,841
Average number weeks of vacation 3.3

 

[Skip Intro]

Dude, MS3NavyFS2B, I hope you're wearing flame-******ent clothing.



In the meantime, nice to know that my observations have been just about right on the mark.

-Skip

 

[MS3NavyFS2B]

Dude, MS3NavyFS2B, I hope you're wearing flame-******ent clothing.



In the meantime, nice to know that my observations have been just about right on the mark.

-Skip

I have it ready...but I expect nothing more than categorical endorsement from the female population with respect to my comments.

 

[cchoukal]

To add, Northwestern and UW Madison also have female chairs.

 

[gasgodess]

To add, Northwestern and UW Madison also have female chairs.

..and Yale

 

[joethestuff]

Thus, what Skip is essentially saying is simply that the state of being female alone increases one's chances of matching is a relatively non-competitive specialty. What a sad state of affairs. But this sparks another debate...

Women in medicine is an interesting topic. Many medical schools have made an effort to admit more female medical students than they would have otherwise based on merit and desert alone. Keeping this in mind, with the amount of female physicians taking time off from medicine or working less than full-time, it is a wonder if medical schools are really serving their respective communities with respect supplying physicians in the future.

In any event, anesthesiology is an ideal specialty for female medical students, who are typically average to below-average students (an hypothesis for which there is abundant evidence, and a notion that Larry Summers, Harvard’s President himself advanced), since it is currently not competitive. Other more competitive specialties like radiology and rad onc preclude such students.

These days, though, there is a reversal in the liberal, independent, working-woman's philosophy, the description of which is abound (see 60 Min), which is that formally educated women are now actually choosing to stay at home with the family.

When do you leave for Fallujah???

 

[sublimazerules]

Baylor has a female chair AND a female PD. I also heard that 75% of the 10-15 med students from Baylor going into gas are female. Probably not a coincidence.

 

[MS3NavyFS2B]

When do you leave for Fallujah???

It would be a horrible use of resources to send physicians into harm's way, especially those that they have like half-a-mil invested in.

They have nurses and corpmen for frontline batlle, both of whom are expendable from a financial standpoint.

 

[snowman8]

It would be a horrible use of resources to send physicians into harm's way, especially those that they have like half-a-mil invested in.

They have nurses and corpmen for frontline batlle, both of whom are expendable from a financial standpoint.

MS3NavyFS2B, please let me know which program you are ranking #1, so I can be sure to avoid that program. Working with your narrow-minded, self centered, arrogant, pompous attitude and way of thinking would dumb me down! Just like Skip Intro said, you will get burned!

 

[tigershark]

Women in medicine is an interesting topic. Many medical schools have made an effort to admit more female medical students than they would have otherwise based on merit and desert alone. Keeping this in mind, with the amount of female physicians taking time off from medicine or working less than full-time, it is a wonder if medical schools are really serving their respective communities with respect supplying physicians in the future.

This is one of medicine's dirty secrets that will never see the light of day.

One of my attendings told me there was a study done showing that on average the lifetime productivity of female doctors was 50% that of male doctors, the main factors being time off for children and working fewer hours in general. This looks pretty bad for med schools in light of the impending massive doctor shortage, considering med schools are only getting 75% productivity (assuming roughly 50/50 male:female classes) out of the insuffcient number of MDs they are producing. The results of the study were squashed for obvious reasons.

Disclaimer: These are not my views or opinions, just relating a story I was told.

 

[palabra]

MS3NavyFS2B, please let me know which program you are ranking #1, so I can be sure to avoid that program. Working with your narrow-minded, self centered, arrogant, pompous attitude and way of thinking would dumb me down! Just like Skip Intro said, you will get burned!

What makes you think that he will get his #1. I think most programs are able to sniff out pompous jerks. Even if he was joking on one or two of his posts his jokes got old real fast to the point that he probably isn't joking and that somewhat the type of person that he is.

Thus I'm sure most interviewers could pick up on that and probably didn't mark too well on the subjective portion of the interview scoresheets. So the better question would be what program are you ranking LAST or which places do you think won't fill and thus might be open for him to scramble into, those are the ones that I would avoid to stay away from him. 😉

 

[Pinky]

i remember hearing from one attending that many anesthesia private practice groups prefer hiring men because they won't need to take maternity leave. Let's say a group wants to hire one anesthesiologist because the practice is becoming quite busy. Hiring a female becomes a gamble. Once she takes maternity leave, the group is back down to their original number. During the hiring process, interviewers are forbidden to ask about marital status, plans for children, etc. As a result, to avoid the gamble, groups just take the men. Some women interviewees combat this by bringing up the topic themselves which is not forbidden. they can say, "i have two kids already and that's enough."

as an aside my program is 60%/40% - male/female, but my class is slightly more than 50% female.

 

[pyranose]

Pretend, wanna-be remf MS3NavyFS2B said,

It would be a horrible use of resources to send physicians into harm's way, especially those that they have like half-a-mil invested in.

They have nurses and corpmen for frontline batlle, both of whom are expendable from a financial standpoint.

Special forces soldiers each cost around $1,000,000 to train. It is real intense training that never ends in malpractice.

As far as the average infantryman, it probably costs at least 150,000 to train them.

The real reason a physician isn't on the battlefield is because most just couldn't physically hang with the grunts. While the physician is exercising his/her mind, the grunt exercises his body and reflexes.

The good doc would be zapped, and double tapped in no time flat on the battlefield.

It's no place for the weak and unskilled.

So the rotor-heads and the fly-boys cart these doctors around or they are located waaaaaaaaaay behind the lines in very safe and secure fortress areas. I guess that is why no physicians have been killed in Iraq. The grunts protect them.

On the battlefield, give me DOC the corpsman anyday. He has the infantry strength, the bullet dodging know-how and the medical knowledge to get me out of that hot lz/pz.

Remfs and pogies belong out of danger where they aren't a liability to the mission.

 

[Skip Intro]

I think most programs are able to sniff out pompous jerks.

Not to mention the fact that, as was confirmed recently by one PD I met with, many also read this forum (as well as the Scutwork reviews).

So, I don't imagine that there are a whole lot of Navy dudes on the interview trail... at least not at the non-consortium programs. You can be identified by your postings here, especially if you are particularly careless (as some posters are). Also, chances are one of the many people who lurk here are reading these posts and there's a good chance that one of them may end-up in a program that a Navy dude also ends up at. I don't imagine that'll make for a very friendly call environment, especially when said poster wants a weekend off or something. Or, perhaps, when the 'stuff' inevitably hits the fan... (i.e., personally, I want people who are going to "get my back" working along side of me, not those who are going to sit back and watch me wallow in it).

Good luck, Navy.

-Skip

 

[Valis]

During my interviews over the past few months, I had a several interviewers talk to me about pregnancy during residency. I did not bring it up, and personally do not consider it a big point. However, when they saw that I was married, the talk would begin. Each time they would say how their program was a very good place for women who wanted to have a children during residency and I should consider that in my decision. This was not an isolated event, it came up in more than one place (Stanford, UCSF, Duke...). I was told at Stanford that the best time is the last year, because you can take 2 months off and then make it up over the summer. We have until late August (or sometime around there) to take Boards. The interviewer said it was good for the program because they get an extra "attending" level resident for 2 months. And many anesthesia programs are large enough (20+ per class) to not be disturbed by a missing resident. (Again, I did not go asking about this, it was just told to me) Don't misunderstand me, I'm not pushing pregnancy during residency, just wanted to share the experience and this was the appropriate thread.