Gender-specific variation in medical specialties

(HealthDay)—Medical specialties vary by gender, with obstetrics/gynecology and pediatrics dominated by female residents and specialties such as surgery, emergency medicine, and anesthesiology dominated by males, according to a report published by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC).

The AAMC 2015 Report on Residents identified the top specialties for the 86,439 residents in the 2013 to 2014 class of graduate medical education.

According to the report, women account for a larger percentage of residents in family medicine (about 58 percent), psychiatry (about 57 percent), pediatrics (about 75 percent), and obstetrics/gynecology (about 85 percent). Men account for a larger proportion of residents in surgery (about 59 percent), emergency medicine (about 62 percent), anesthesiology (about 63 percent), radiology (about 73 percent), and internal medicine (about 54 percent). The same gender-specific breakdown of specialties was seen in international medical school graduates.

"In medicine, specialties swing from one extreme to the next," Brandi Ring, M.D., a fourth-year resident in obstetrics/gynecology at York Hospital in Maine, said in a review of the report published by the American Medical Association. "Years ago, gynecology was dominated by men, but today it's just the opposite. Now I'm seeing a lot of male medical students who completely disregard obstetrics as an option because they think it's a 'female specialty,' which is a huge disservice."

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