Female Representation in Integrated Interventional Radiology Residency: Trends, Underrepresentation, and Modest Growth Over Five Years.

Abstract

Objective: Women remain a minority of trainees in interventional radiology (IR) since the residency's inception in 2014. Similar phenomena have been observed in other surgical specialties. Our study aims to quantify changes in female trainee representation in integrated IR over a five-year period from the 2018-19 to 2022-23 academic years and to compare with trends in other specialties.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective review of survey data collected from the National Graduate Medical Education database. The eight selected specialties, including IR, were chosen due to qualitative similarities with IR training or due to less than 30% female trainee representation in 2018-19. In this data, gender was categorized as male or female. Percentage of female trainees in each specialty was collected in the study period. Analysis was conducted using ANOVA, linear regression, and Tukey HSD (P < 0.05).

Results: In the five-year study period, female representation in integrated IR residency grew by 16.6% at a mean relative growth rate of 4.0% annually. By 2022-23, integrated vascular surgery residency had the highest female trainee representation (38.4%) whereas integrated IR had the second lowest (22.4%), ahead of orthopedic surgery (20.4%).

Discussion: Despite observed growth, female trainee representation in integrated IR lags behind other procedural and radiology specialties. Our analysis emphasizes the need for continued recruitment of female applicants to bolster gender parity. Supporting known ongoing initiatives like female mentorship programs and developing new strategies to support female interest in IR should be a priority for the field.