DocWire News Editors

DocwireNews

In a study presented at the 2021 AAOS Annual Meeting, researchers measured and compared the surgical skills of female and male orthopaedic surgery trainees, then analyzed their self-reported confidence levels. Researchers, led by Lauren Elisabeth Wessel, MD, from the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at the Hospital for Special Surgery, found that, while men and women have equal competency levels, women expressed lower confidence in their skills.The study included residency applicants (158 men and 58 women) who were invited to interview at a single orthopaedic institution from 2017 through 2020. The interview included an assessment of an applicant&rsquo;s technical and visuomotor skills.Technical skills were assessed by asking a surgeon applicant to reproduce four suture configurations on a pig&rsquo;s foot. Visuomotor skills were assessed simultaneously, as applicants were required to tap a pedal located under their suture table when specific shapes appeared in their visual field during the suture task. Technical skill was graded on a scale of 1 to 3, and performance on the visual field task was graded as number of correct pedal taps.Applicant&rsquo;s confidence levels in their manual skills were assessed prior to and after completing the assigned task, on a scale of 1 to 10. Researchers also recorded applicants&rsquo; age, sex, race/ethnicity, number of publications at time of application, athletic background (yes/no), and United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) scores.Men and women performed similarly on the skills assessments, with an average surgeon-graded suture task score of 1.7 in both groups. All applicants had 12.2 correct pedal counts.The researchers identified several factors linked to confidence levels: Private medical school education (P=0.04) and higher USMLE Step 1 (P=0.03) scores conferred lower pretest confidence.While self-reported confidence levels were similar before the tasks (6.2 for men and 6.0 for women), the authors reported that post-task self-reported confidence scores were lower among female applicants (4.8 for men and 4.5 women). However, this finding was not statistically significant.

Jayme Locke, MD, MPH

Joel M. Topf, MD, FACP

The Promise of Xenotransplantation

NKF Spring Clinical Meetings 2025

Leah Lawrence

Real-World Data Backs Invasive DFS as Surrogate Endpoint for OS in EBC

HR Breast Cancer

Sacituzimab Govitecan Showed Modest Activity for CNS Metastases

Triple-Negative Breast Cancer

Latest News

Despite Equal Skills, Female Trainees Express Lower Confidence Than Male Trainees

AAOS 2021

In a study presented at the 2021 AAOS Annual Meeting, researchers measured and compared the surgical skills of female and male orthopaedic surgery trainees, then analyzed ...

About Us

Editorial Policy

Advertising

Contact Us

eNewsletters

Contribute

Career Center

MashupMD

Blood Cancers Today

Cancer Nursing Today

GU Oncology Now

Urban Health Today

Bile Duct Cancer

Colorectal Cancer

Gastroesophageal Cancer

Gastric Cancer

GEP-NETs

GIST

Liver Cancer

Pancreatic Cancer

GI Oncology Now

Anemia

Deep Vein Thrombosis

Essential Thrombocythemia

Hemophilia

Immune Thrombocytopenic Purpura

Myelodysplastic Syndromes

Myelofibrosis

Myeloproliferative Neoplasms

Polycythemia Vera

Pulmonary Embolism

Sickle Cell Disease

Thrombocytopenia

Thrombophilia

Thrombosis

Thrombotic Thrombocytopenic Purpura

Venous Thromboembolism

von Willebrand Disease

Heme Today

Acute Kidney Injury

ADPKD

Anemia and Kidney Disease

Chronic Kidney Disease

COVID-19 and Kidney Disease

Diabetes and Hypertension

End-Stage Renal Disease

Gout

Hyperkalemia

IgAN

Kidney Transplantation

Metabolic Acidosis

Nephrology Times

HER2 Breast Cancer

Genetics & Breast Cancer

Breast Cancers Today

Atherosclerotic Disease

Atrial Fibrillation

Heart Failure

Hypertension

Interventional Cardiology

Lipid Management

Practice Tips With Dr. Lichaa

Preventive Cardiology

Stroke

Cardiology

Breast Cancer

Gynecologic Cancer

Head and Neck Cancer

Skin Cancer

Oncology

Sleep

Urology

Diabetes

Ophthalmology

— Demodex Blepharitis

Neurology

Rheumatology

Gastroenterology

Pulmonology

Infectious Diseases

— HIV

Health and Wellness

Lupus

Future of Medicine

Orthopedics

Pharmacology

Career News

More

Conferences

CardioNerds

The Sleep Source With Dr. Morse

Rheumatology Rounds With Dr. Maheswaranathan

Partners

Expert Interviews

Subscribe