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Evaluation of Gender Differences in Ultrasound Milestone Evaluations During Emergency Medicine Residency Training: A Multicenter Study
Author(s) -
Acuña Josie,
Stolz Uwe,
Stolz Lori A.,
SituLaCasse Elaine H.,
Bell Gregory,
Berkeley Ross P.,
Boyd Jeremy S.,
Castle David,
Carmody Kristin,
Fong Tiffany,
Grewal Ekjot,
Jones Robert,
Hilberts SueLin,
Kanter Carolyn,
Kelley Kenneth,
Leetch Stephen J.,
Pazderka Philip,
Shaver Erica,
Stowell Jeffrey R.,
Josephson Elaine B.,
Theodoro Daniel,
Adhikari Srikar
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
aem education and training
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.49
H-Index - 9
ISSN - 2472-5390
DOI - 10.1002/aet2.10397
Subject(s) - milestone , accreditation , medicine , graduate medical education , cohort , confidence interval , cohort study , residency training , family medicine , medical education , history , archaeology , continuing education
Objectives Prior literature has demonstrated incongruities among faculty evaluation of male and female residents’ procedural competency during residency training. There are no known studies investigating gender differences in the assessment of procedural skills among emergency medicine ( EM ) residents, such as those required by ultrasound. The objective of this study was to determine if there are significant gender differences in ultrasound milestone evaluations during EM residency training. Methods We used a stratified, random cluster sample of Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education ( ACGME ) EM residency programs to conduct a longitudinal, retrospective cohort analysis of resident ultrasound milestone evaluation data. Milestone evaluation data were collected from a total of 16 ACGME ‐accredited EM residency programs representing a 4‐year period. We stratified milestone data by resident gender, date of evaluation, resident postgraduate year, and cohort (residents with the same starting date). Results A total of 2,554 ultrasound milestone evaluations were collected from 1,187 EM residents (750 men [62.8%] and 444 women [37.1%]) by 104 faculty members during the study period. There was no significant overall difference in mean milestone score between female and male residents [mean difference = 0.01 (95% confidence interval { CI } = −0.04 to 0.05)]. There were no significant differences between female and male residents’ mean milestone scores at the first (baseline) PGY 1 evaluation (mean difference = −0.04 [95% CI = −0.09 to 0.003)] or at the final evaluation during PGY 3 (mean difference = 0.02 [95% CI = −0.03 to 0.06)]. Conclusions Despite prior studies suggesting gender bias in the evaluation of procedural competency during residency training, our study indicates that there were no significant gender‐related differences in the ultrasound milestone evaluations among EM residents within training programs throughout the United States.