Open AccessProportion of male and female professionals in neurosurgery
Author(s) -
Gabriela Ferreira Kalkmann,
Luíza Floriano,
Têka Luila Borgo Menezes,
Sonia Quézia Garcia Marques Zago,
Laura Beatriz Martins,
Valdecir Boeno Spenazato Júnior,
Isabella Carla Barbosa Lima Angelo,
Jennifer Tuane Felipe de Góis,
Nathally Marques Santiago,
Gustavo Veloso Lages,
Thania González Rossi
Publication year - 2021
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Conference proceedings
DOI - 10.5327/1516-3180.459
Subject(s) - neurosurgery , specialty , medicine , inclusion (mineral) , neurology , inclusion and exclusion criteria , family medicine , medline , psychiatry , alternative medicine , psychology , pathology , social psychology , political science , law
The specialty of neurosurgery over time has become increasingly sought after. Even with the gradual increase in women specialists in neurosurgery, they are still represented by a very small number in comparison to the number of male neurosurgeons. Objectives: Present the gender gap within neurosurgery. Methods: This is a systematic literature review, with the search terms: “gender” AND “women” AND “Neurology” AND “Neurosurgery”, resulting in 645 articles on the Pubmed, Lilacs, Scielo, Cochrane and TripDataBase search platforms. The inclusion criteria were: original studies published in any language. Published articles that prevented full access, as well as systematic reviews or not, were excluded. After applying the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 6 articles were included. Results: The databases of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) and American Board of Neurological Surgery (ABNS) revealed that women represent only 12.0% of residents in neurosurgery. Most of them left training in the first 3 years and remained in Medicine, looking for other specialties. In addition, the female conflict rate with the team was 17.0% compared to a 5.3% male rate. The low number of women in neurosurgical residency programs can result in a consequent decrease in female tutors, lack of rise in female professionals and non-adherence of medical students in residency programs. Conclusions: The percentage of women in medicine has increased in recent years, however the number of women who pursue a neurosurgical career is still very small, when compared to the total number of neurosurgeon men.