Does students' exposure to gender discrimination and sexual harassment in medical school affect specialty choice and residency program selection?

PURPOSE: To examine the role of gender discrimination and sexual harassment in medical students' choice of specialty and residency program. METHOD: Anonymous, self-administered questionnaires were distributed in 1997 to fourth-year students enrolled in 14 public and private U.S. medical schools. In addition to reporting the frequency of gender discrimination and sexual harassment encountered during preclinical coursework, core clerkships, elective clerkships, and residency selection, students assessed the impact of these exposures (none, a little, some, quite a bit, the deciding factor) on their specialty choices and rankings of residency programs. RESULTS: A total of 1,314 (69%) useable questionnaires were returned. Large percentages of men (83.2%) and women (92.8%) experienced, observed, or heard about at least one incident of gender discrimination and sexual harassment during medical school, although more women reported such behavior across all training contexts. Compared with men, significantly (p

Gender discrimination and sexual harassment in medical education: perspectives gained by a 14-school study.

PURPOSE: The authors attempted to determine male and female medical students' exposures to and perceptions of gender discrimination and sexual harassment (GD/SH) in selected academic and nonacademic contexts. METHOD: An anonymous, self-report questionnaire was administered in the spring of 1997 to senior medical students at 14 U.S. medical schools. Data were collected about students' exposures to GD/SH during undergraduate medical education and outside the medical training environment. Students' perceptions of GD/SH in various medical specialties and practice settings were also measured. RESULTS: Of the 1,911 questionnaires administered, 1,314 were completed (response rate, 69%). Both men and women reported exposures to GD/SH. More women than men reported all types of exposures to GD/SH across all academic and nonacademic contexts. Differences between men and women in the frequencies of exposures were greatest outside the medical training environment (t = 15.67, df = 1171, p

The Effect of Gender and Age on Medical School Performance: An Important Interaction.

Being able to predict medical school performance is essential to help ensure the supply of quality physicians. The purpose of our study was to examine the influence of gender and age on academic performance (AP) and on academic difficulty (AD). The study involved all matriculants of 3 classes at one medical school. Independent variables included gender, age (categorized into younger and older than 23 years) and the gender by age interaction. Dependent variables included an AP scale score, a clinically based performance examination and AD. The Wilson AP Scale score was developed to assess both excellent and poor performance. The Wilson AP Scale included first-, second-, and third-year medical school grade-point-averages, USMLE Step 1score and USMLE Step 2 score. Older women as a group had the highest mean Wilson AP Scale score. Women performed better than men on the clinically based performance examinations. Younger men were least likely to have AD and younger women were most likely to have AD. Five of 123 younger men versus 13/66 older men had AD. Also, 15/63 younger women had AD versus 2/27 older women. A significant gender by age interaction was present in predicting the Wilson AP Scale score (p = 0.009) and AD (p = 0.002). Older women performed better than both older men and younger women in 3 classes of medical students at one medical school. A significant gender by age interaction was predictive of AP and AD. These findings may have implications on admission decisions.