Corresponding Author Danielle Sutzko, M.D., MS, and other department faculty and trainees recently published “Does Chair of Surgery Gender Influence Divisional or Residency Program Director Gender Diversity?” in the Journal of Surgical Research.

Also involved with the publication were Fay Fletcher Kerner Endowed Chair Herbert Chen, M.D., FACS, and General Surgery Residency Program Director Britney Corey, M.D., MACM, FACS.

Given the increasing number of women surgery department chairs, the team of UAB researchers aimed to examine the association of surgery chair gender with division and residency program director gender.

Authors hypothesized that surgery departments with female leadership would have an increase in gender diversity compared to departments led by male chairs.

Ultimately, the team found that female department chair leadership were not associated with more diversity in divisional or program leadership compared to departments of surgery led by males. They also found that female chairs had shorter overall length of chairships compared to male chairs.

“No matter the diversity of leadership, academic intuitions and departments must be intentional about creating a fully diverse workforce,” said Sutzko. “These efforts should be championed by surgical societies, school of medicine leadership, and within departments of surgery.”

The full list of authors includes:

• Grace Kennedy, B.S.
• Shelby Bergstresser, M.D.
• Stephanie Rakestraw, M.D.
• Zdenek Novak, M.D., Ph.D., MSHI
• Britney Corey, M.D., MACM, FACS
• Herbert Chen, M.D., FACS
• Danielle Sutzko, M.D., M.S.

To read the entire study and its methods, click here.