Dataset Information

Comparison of Male vs Female Resident Milestone Evaluations by Faculty During Emergency Medicine Residency Training.

ABSTRACT:

Importance

Although implicit bias in medical training has long been suspected, it has been difficult to study using objective measures, and the influence of sex and gender in the evaluation of medical trainees is unknown. The emergency medicine (EM) milestones provide a standardized framework for longitudinal resident assessment, allowing for analysis of resident performance across all years and programs at a scope and level of detail never previously possible.

Objective

To compare faculty-observed training milestone attainment of male vs female residency training.

Design, setting, and participants

This multicenter, longitudinal, retrospective cohort study took place at 8 community and academic EM training programs across the United States from July 1, 2013, to July 1, 2015, using a real-time, mobile-based, direct-observation evaluation tool. The study examined 33 456 direct-observation subcompetency evaluations of 359 EM residents by 285 faculty members.

Main outcomes and measures

Milestone attainment for male and female EM residents as observed by male and female faculty throughout residency and analyzed using multilevel mixed-effects linear regression modeling.

Results

A total of 33 456 direct-observation evaluations were collected from 359 EM residents (237 men [66.0%] and 122 women [34.0%]) by 285 faculty members (194 men [68.1%] and 91 women [31.9%]) during the study period. Female and male residents achieved similar milestone levels during the first year of residency. However, the rate of milestone attainment was 12.7% (0.07 levels per year) higher for male residents through all of residency (95% CI, 0.04-0.09). By graduation, men scored approximately 0.15 milestone levels higher than women, which is equivalent to 3 to 4 months of additional training, given that the average resident gains approximately 0.52 levels per year using our model (95% CI, 0.49-0.54). No statistically significant differences in scores were found based on faculty evaluator gender (effect size difference, 0.02 milestone levels; 95% CI for males, -0.09 to 0.11) or evaluator-evaluatee gender pairing (effect size difference, -0.02 milestone levels; 95% CI for interaction, -0.05 to 0.01).

Conclusions and relevance

Although male and female residents receive similar evaluations at the beginning of residency, the rate of milestone attainment throughout training was higher for male than female residents across all EM subcompetencies, leading to a gender gap in evaluations that continues until graduation. Faculty should be cognizant of possible gender bias when evaluating medical trainees.

SUBMITTER: Dayal A

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5818781 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Similar Datasets

Project description:Background:Assessment of trainees' competency is challenging; the predictive power of traditional evaluations is debatable especially in regard to noncognitive traits. New assessments need to be sought to better understand affective areas like personality. Grit, defined as "perseverance and passion for long-term goals," can assess aspects of personality. Grit predicts educational attainment and burnout rates in other populations and is accurate with an informant report version. Self-assessments, while useful, have inherent limitations. Faculty's ability to accurately assess trainees' grit could prove helpful in identifying learner needs and avenues for further development. Objective:This study sought to determine the correlation between EM resident self-assessed and faculty-assessed Grit Scale (Grit-S) scores of that same resident. Methods:Subjects were PGY-1 to -4 EM residents and resident-selected faculty as part of a larger multicenter trial involving 10 EM residencies during 2017. The Grit-S Scale was administered to participating EM residents; an informant version was completed by their self-selected faculty. Correlation coefficients were computed to assess the relationship between residents' self-assessed and the residents' faculty-assessed Grit-S score. Results:A total of 281 of 303 residents completed the Grit-S, for a 93% response rate; 200 of 281 residents had at least one faculty-assessed Grit-S score. No correlation was found between residents' self-assessed and faculty-assessed Grit-S scores. There was a correlation between the two faculty-assessed Grit-S scores for the same resident. Conclusion:There was no correlation between resident and faculty-assessed Grit-S scores; additionally, faculty-assessed Grit-S scores of residents were higher. This corroborates the challenges faculty face at accurately assessing aspects of residents they supervise. While faculty and resident Grit-S scores did not show significant concordance, grit may still be a useful predictive personality trait that could help shape future training.

Project description:INTRODUCTION:Although women have entered medical school and internal medicine residency programs in significant numbers for decades, women faculty remain underrepresented in senior and departmental leadership roles. How residents perceive this gender disparity is unknown. We sought to assess resident perception of gender parity among departmental leadership and teaching faculty in our internal medicine department, and to determine the actual gender distribution of those faculty roles. METHODS:An anonymous cross-sectional survey was distributed to evaluate resident perception of gender representation of various faculty roles. Using conference schedules, resident evaluations, and our department website, we determined the actual representation of women faculty in department leadership roles, and in clinical and educational activities. RESULTS:88 of 164 residents (54%) responded. Women residents were less likely than men to perceive that women faculty were equally represented in department leadership (45% men agreed vs. 13% women, p < 0.05), clinical teaching roles (55% men agreed vs. 28% women, p < 0.05), or facilitating educational conferences (45% men agreed vs. 28% women, p = 0.074). In 2017, the internal medicine department at our institution comprised 815 faculty members, 473 men (58%) and 342 women (42%). At that time, women faculty held 5% of senior departmental leadership positions and 21% of educational leadership positions. During the year preceding survey distribution, women faculty attended on internal medicine inpatient wards for 33% of the total number of weeks, staffed 20% of morning reports, and facilitated 28% of noon conferences. DISCUSSION:Women residents in our internal medicine training program perceived a gender disparity among faculty in leadership and educational positions to a greater extent than male residents. The perception of women trainees was accurate. In addition to disproportionate underrepresentation in leadership positions, women faculty were underrepresented in prominent educational positions, including attending on inpatient services and serving as discussants at educational conferences.

Project description:Professionalism is a critical competency for emergency medicine (EM) physicians, and professional behavior affects patient satisfaction. However, the findings of various studies indicate that there are differences in the interpretation of professionalism among EM resident physicians and faculty physicians. Using a cross-sectional survey, we aimed to analyze common challenges to medical professionalism for Japanese EM physicians and survey the extent of professionalism coursework completed during undergraduate medical education. We conducted a multicenter cross-sectional survey of EM resident physicians and faculty physicians at academic conferences and eight teaching hospitals in Japan using the questionnaire by Barry and colleagues. We analyzed the frequency of providing either the best or second-best answers to each scenario as the main outcome measure and compared the frequencies between EM resident physicians and EM faculty physicians. Fisher's exact test and the Wilcoxon rank sum test were used to analyze data. A total of 176 physicians (86 EM resident physicians and 90 EM faculty physicians) completed the survey. The response rate was 92.6%. The most challenging scenario presented to participants dealt with sexual harassment, and only 44.5% chose the best or second-best answers, followed by poor responses to the confidentiality scenario (69.9%). The frequency of either the best or second-best responses to the confidentiality scenario was significantly greater for EM resident physicians than for EM faculty physicians (77.1% versus 62.9%, p = 0.048). More participants in the EM resident physician group completed formal courses in medical professionalism than those in the EM faculty physician group (25.8% versus 5.5%, p < 0.01). Further, EM faculty physicians were less likely than EM resident physicians to provide acceptable responses in terms of confidentiality, and few of both had received professionalism training through school curricula. Continuous professionalism education focused on the prevention of sexual harassment and gender gap is needed for both EM resident physicians and faculty physicians in Japan.