Jaclyn Janine Renfrow, MD, spoke about her research, "Tracking Career Paths of Women in Neurosurgery," at the 2017 American Association of Neurological Surgeons Annual Scientific Meeting, held April 22 to April 26 in Los Angeles.
The research involved reviews of AANS and American Board of Neurosurgery databases from 1964 to 2013 for female neurosurgery graduates.
Here are six insights:
1. Researchers identified 379 female neurosurgery residency graduates in the timeframe, with 70 percent earning ABNS certification.
2. Of the female residency graduates, 27 percent underwent fellowship training. Pediatric neurosurgery represented the most common fellowship path among the graduates.
3. After training completion, 26 percent entered academic medicine. The female neurosurgeon career paths were as follows:
• Attained assistant professor rank: 46 percent
• Attainted associate professor rank: 36 percent
• Attained full professor rank: 18 percent
4. The study revealed the proportion of women in private versus academic settings is quite similar to the distribution of male neurosurgeons.
5. Female neurosurgeon leadership in the academic environment still remains low.
6. Researchers concluded the proportion of female neurosurgery residents is slowly rising.