Browsing by keyword "female medical students"
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Breaking the Stereotype: Interventions Aimed at Changing Medical Student Misperceptions of Radiology and Increasing the Female Match RateBACKGROUND: Although nearly half of medical students are female there is still a significant discrepancy in the number of women specializing in radiology. In 2013, 26.9% of US diagnostic radiology residents were female, a 1% increase in 20 years from 25.5% in 1990. PURPOSE: The purpose of this project is to determine the effectiveness of the interventions implemented at a single medical school at decreasing negative attitudes about radiology held by medical students of all genders and whether those same interventions will increase the number of female medical students matching into radiology. METHODS: The interventions were implemented between 2012 and 2016 and included incorporation of radiology into preclinical curriculum, electives in radiology for 3rd year students, a "Women in Radiology Panel," and increase in female radiology faculty visibility. First year medical student participants of all genders used a free text box to write their attitudes about radiology, which were categorized into the "six most common attitudes about radiology." Fourth year medical student participants used a free text box to write the reasons why they did not choose radiology as a specialty, and those answers were then placed into the same six categories. We then analyzed the data using Fisher's Exact Test to determine whether there was a decrease in the negative misperceptions after exposure to the interventions. We also then determined whether there was an increase in the number of women matching into radiology using Chi-Square analysis. RESULTS: There was a decrease in the negative misperceptions between 1st and 4th years, with the most notable decrease from 51% of 1st years to 0% of 4th years listing radiologists as being antisocial (p < 0.01). There was also a significant increase in the number of female medical students matching into radiology in the years in which students were exposed to 4 years of intervention when compared to three and fewer (0.76%-4.2%, p=0.01). CONCLUSION: Exposure to 4 years of the interventions demonstrated a significant increase in the female match rate into the specialty when compared to female medical students who experienced three or fewer years of intervention. Additionally, it appears that these same interventions decreased the number of students of all genders having some of the common negative misperceptions about the field of radiology.
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Do Interventions Intended to Increase Female Medical Student Interest in Radiology Work? Preliminary FindingsPURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to share the preliminary findings after initiation of interventions at the medical school level, which have been suggested by the literature to increase female medical student interest in radiology at one institution. Additionally, the paper provides discussion of how to better future interventions for increasing female medical student interest. METHODS: Interventions to increase medical student exposure to radiology were implemented at the University of Massachusetts Medical School in 2012. Radiology was incorporated into the preclinical curriculum; flexible clinical experiences stressing patient contact were created for early exposure to radiology during third-year clerkships; and a 'Women in Radiology' panel was held to promote visibility of female radiologists. In addition, female radiology faculty became more involved in medical school activities and events. RESULTS: Our results suggest that early exposure in the preclinical curriculum and patient-centered electives increase overall student interest in radiology but only minimally increase female interest. Simply offering the patient-centered electives is not enough as it resulted in more male student enrollment than female (60% vs. 40%, respectively). Just one event promoting visibility of female radiologists changed female medical student perception of patient contact within radiology by a statistically significant amount. Examination of current UMass faculty radiologists by gender demonstrates that full-time, junior female radiologists-the demographic suggested to have the biggest impact on female medical students-only accounted for 4% of faculty. CONCLUSION: This article may be informative for radiology departments looking to increase female medical student interest. Required visibility of female radiologists and active publicity of female radiologists from the first preclinical year are likely to have the biggest impact in increasing female medical student interest.