Diversity in Plastic Surgery: Trends in Female Representation at Plastic Surgery Meetings.

BACKGROUND: Prior studies have shown that roadblocks exist for women to achieve higher career levels in plastic surgery. The authors evaluate female representation as lecturers, panelists, and moderators at national and regional plastic surgery meetings. METHODS: The annual meetings between January 2014 and January 2019 for 12 national and regional plastic surgery societies were included in this study. Data regarding sex of speakers were extracted from meeting programs. Binomial distribution analysis was used to compare female representation at meetings as compared with female representation among plastic surgeons. Analysis of variance with Tukey post hoc analysis was used to evaluate for differences in female representation among regions and subspecialties. RESULTS: Females comprised 14.8% of speakers, including instructors, moderators, and panelists, at all included plastic surgery meetings. There has not been a significant increase in the representation of females at plastic surgery meetings in the past 5 years (P = 0.08). Five of 12 societies had significantly lower female representation as speakers than expected by the proportion of female plastic surgeons (P < 0.05). American Society for Craniofacial Surgeons had significantly lower representation as compared with other subspecialty meetings (P < 0.01), and Texas Society of Plastic Surgeons had significantly lower representation among regional meetings (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Female representation among plastic surgery residents and faculty has increased, yet women remain disproportionately underrepresented on the podium at educational meetings. Providing women the opportunity to serve as speakers, moderators, and panelists at meetings will ultimately enhance the diversity of our plastic surgical leadership.

Functional Improvement Following Diastasis Rectus Abdominus Repair in an Active Duty Navy Female.

Return to physical activity following childbirth can be a difficult process complicated by structural changes during pregnancy. A common problem is the development of a diastasis of the rectus abdominus (DRA), defined as a horizontal separation of the abdominus muscles at the linea alba. Recent data indicate that the greater the distance of separation of the muscle, the worse the functional ability. We describe a 24-year-old active duty U.S. Navy female G1P2 with a diagnosis of DRA. At 2 months postpartum, she was referred to physical therapy because of back pain and inability to meet baseline activities of daily living. After 4 months of physical therapy, she was unable to complete curl ups as required by U.S. Navy physical fitness standards. Abdominoplasty with imbrication of the abdominal wall diastasis was performed followed by additional physical therapy, after which she returned to baseline functioning. The restoration of functional ability postoperatively suggests there is a therapeutic indication for surgical correction of DRA. In high-functioning military patients with DRA who fail to return to baseline level of activity following a trial of physical therapy, surgical intervention should be considered to obtain the optimal functional ability.