According to a 1997 study, published in the September 2, 1998, issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), that looked at women residents by specialty in 1989
and 1997, the percentages are as follows:
| |
1989 |
1997 |
| |
|
|
| Colon and Rectal Surgery |
6.8 |
20 |
| Neurological Surgery |
7.3 |
9.8 |
| Obstetrics and Gynecology |
44.2 |
62.6 |
| Ophthalmology |
22.6 |
28.6 |
| Orthopaedic Surgery |
5 |
6.9 |
| Orthopaedic Subspecialties |
NA |
9 |
| Otolaryngology |
13.6 |
18.2 |
| Plastic Surgery |
13.4 |
17 |
| Hand Surgery |
NA |
15.8 |
| Surgery |
13 |
20.5 |
| Surgery Subspecialties |
NA |
17.2 |
| Thoracic Surgery |
2 |
5.5 |
| Urology |
5.3 |
9.7 |
In addition, results from the Longitudinal Study of Surgical
Residents, 1994 to 1996, published in the June
1999 issue of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons
(JACS), indicated that women made up 27 percent
of entering surgery residents, and comprised 23 to 24 percent
of surgery residency graduates. Furthermore, the study revealed
that the total number of graduates from surgical residencies
in 1995 and 1996 had not changed since 1982, and that the largest
number of surgery resident graduates were in obstetrics and gynecology
programs, followed by general surgery program graduates.
Another study, published in the August
1999 issue of Archives of Surgery, found that
of the more than 5,000 medical students in the state of California,
the numbers in several nonsurgical medical specialties decreased
between 1995 and 1998, while the number of medical students choosing
general surgery residencies remained stable. The researchers
concluded that the future for surgeons looks optimistic with
a continuing demand for surgeons.