Women still account for less than 30% of practitioner numbers within the specialties of cardiology, gastroenterology, neurology and respiratory medicine, a new study shows.
In contrast, female representation is more evident in specialities such as endocrinology, rheumatology and medical oncology, according to a new analysis by members of the Women in Cardiology interest group.
Published in the Internal Medicine Journal, the figures show that cardiology will continue to be an ‘outlier’ profession in terms of gender equity because only 21% of advanced trainees are female, according to study authors including Dr Sarah Zaman a cardiologist at Monash Heart, Melbourne.
Other specialities that currently have low rates of female representation will show a turnaround in the near future as they have succeeded in recruiting higher rates of women into training as advanced trainees, including gastroenterology, respiratory medicine and neurology:
Speciality | Female (%) | Male (%) | Female advanced trainees (%) | Male advanced trainees (%) |
All | 37 | 63 | 53 | 47 |
Cardiology | 15 | 85 | 21 | 79 |
Gastroenterology | 23 | 77 | 40 | 60 |
Neurology | 29 | 71 | 51 | 49 |
Respiratory | 29 | 71 | 44 | 56 |
Nephrology | 35 | 65 | 61 | 39 |
Infectious Diseases | 41 | 59 | 62 | 38 |
Medical Oncology | 45 | 55 | 58 | 42 |
Rheumatology | 45 | 55 | 68 | 32 |
Geriatric Medicine | 48 | 52 | 66 | 34 |
Endocrinology | 55 | 45 | 78 | 22 |
General Surgery | 15 | 85 | 37 | 63 |
Orthopaedic Surgery | 4 | 96 | 11 | 89 |
Dr Zaman and colleagues say cardiology should follow the example of other specialities, which she says can be “immensely proud of achieving gender parity “ in postgraduate training.