Female Ophthalmology Trainees Perform Fewer Cataract Procedures During Residency

THURSDAY, May 8, 2025 (HealthDay News) — Female residents reported fewer cataract procedures than male residents from 2014 to 2023, according to a study published online May 1 in JAMA Ophthalmology.

Susan M. Culican, M.D., Ph.D., from University of Minnesota Medical School in Minneapolis, and colleagues examined whether reported surgical volume among U.S. ophthalmology resident graduates varied by self-reported gender or by underrepresented in medicine (URiM) status. The analysis included 4,811 ophthalmology resident graduates from 2014 through November 2023.

The researchers found that for cataract cases, a mean difference of −4.4 percent fewer surgeries were performed by female residents than male residents during the 10-year study. Similarly, for total procedures, there was a mean difference of −7.4 percent fewer surgeries for female than male residents. URiM status was not associated with a difference in cataract surgeries but was associated with a mean difference of −5.3 percent fewer total procedures during the study period. 

“As surgical educators, we must establish best practices to ensure that all our residents receive the highest quality of training possible,” write the authors of an accompanying editorial. “Reducing disparities in surgical training may enhance recruitment and retention of a diverse surgical workforce, which is essential to our mission of ensuring the public receives the best trained surgeons to provide the highest quality of care to all.”

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