Gender Diversity in Academic Rhinology

Sunday, September 29, 2024

10:00 AM – 10:06 AM EDT

Location: MBCC, 230

Disclosure(s):

Alison J. Yu, MD:

faculty for this accredited education activity has no relationship(s) with ineligible companies to disclose.

Stephanie Wong, MD:

faculty for this accredited education activity has no relationship(s) with ineligible companies to disclose.

Kevin W. Herrera, BS:

faculty for this accredited education activity has no relationship(s) with ineligible companies to disclose.

Nadia Chan, MD:

faculty for this accredited education activity has no relationship(s) with ineligible companies to disclose.

Introduction: Female representation in academic medicine has historically been lacking. Although this may be improving in certain fields, it has not been well studied in the field of rhinology. We sought to investigate gender trends in academic rhinology, and whether they correlate with those of the otolaryngology department.

Methods: United States allopathic and osteopathic otolaryngology programs and department data were identified from the American Medical Association FREIDA database. Rhinologists were included if they had completed rhinology and/or anterior skull base fellowships. Demographic and academic data were obtained from public profiles, Doximity, LinkedIn, US News and World Report, and the American Rhinologic Society (ARS) fellow database. Logistic regression analyses were used to determine factors associated with female rhinologists in the departments.

Results: In total, 224 fellowship trained rhinologists were identified. Female rhinologists comprised 26.8%. There were more female assistant professors (55.0% vs 39.6%) and fewer female full professors (10.0% vs. 24.4%) than their male counterparts (p = 0.046). More female rhinologists were in their early careers ( <5 years) than male (40.7% vs 28.2%) (p = 0.171). Female rhinologists were more likely to work in a department with a female chair or program director (OR 1.80 [95% CI 0.99-3.27], p = 0.054) and with greater percentages of female faculty (OR 1.08 [95% CI 1.05-1.12], p < 0.001). There was no significant difference in ARS fellow status (p = 0.087), geographic location (p = 0.594), presence of rhinology fellowship program (p = 0.102), or department NIH funding level (p = 0.841) between female and male rhinologists.

Conclusions: Female representation among academic rhinologists is low, although this trend seems less pronounced among early career surgeons, suggesting recent improvement in gender diversity. Where female rhinologists practice may be reflective of the overall gender outlook of the otolaryngology department, suggesting further efforts are needed to promote gender parity among the leadership and in other subspecialties.

Presenting Author(s)

Alison J. Yu, MD

Fellow
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA, United States

Disclosure(s):
faculty for this accredited education activity has no relationship(s) with ineligible companies to disclose.

Co-Author(s)

Stephanie Wong, MD

Resident Physician
USC Caruso Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery
South Pasadena, California, United States

Disclosure(s):
faculty for this accredited education activity has no relationship(s) with ineligible companies to disclose.
Kevin W. Herrera, BS

Medical Student
Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA, United States

Disclosure(s):
faculty for this accredited education activity has no relationship(s) with ineligible companies to disclose.
DP

Daniel Palmieri, MD

Resident Physician
Keck Medicine of the University of Southern California, United States

Disclosure information not submitted.
Nadia Chan, MD

Assistant Professor
Keck Medicine of the University of Southern California
Pasadena, CA, United States

Disclosure(s):
faculty for this accredited education activity has no relationship(s) with ineligible companies to disclose.
Bozena B. Wrobel, MD

Associate Professor of Clinical Otolaryngology
Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California
Los Angeles, California, United States

Disclosure information not submitted.

Senior Author(s)

Tamara N. Chambers, MD

Associate Professor of Clinical Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery
Caruso Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA, United States

Disclosure information not submitted.