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Akanksha Mehta, Challenges Facing Women in Sexual Medicine, The Journal of Sexual Medicine, Volume 19, Issue 10, October 2022, Pages 1502–1505, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsxm.2022.07.008
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INTRODUCTION
Urology has historically had one of the lowest representations of practicing women physicians, compared to other surgical sub-specialties.1 However, gender demographics in the current urologic workforce are changing. The number of practicing women urologists has increased from <2% in 1980 to >10% in 2020.2,3 Approximately 25% of current Urology residents are women.4 As women now constitute the majority of matriculants to United States medical schools (50.1% in 2019), the proportion of women urology trainees, as well as the proportion of practicing women urologists, is expected to continue to grow. Indeed, the 2022 American Urological Association (AUA) Residency Match rate for women applicants exceeded that for their male counterparts (72 vs 68%).
According to data from the AUA 2020 Census, approximately 4.5% of practicing urologists are fellowship trained in male genitourinary reconstruction, 3.6% in erectile dysfunction, and 3.4% in male infertility.3 Notably, the fellowship categories included in the census do not allow specific characterization of urologists trained in female sexual medicine. Additionally, the census data does not clarify the gender distribution of urologists trained in these fellowship categories. It is evident, however, that women urologists are overall more likely to be fellowship trained compared to their male counterparts (64.4 vs 55.2% amongst urologists aged <45, and 59.3 vs 31.5% amongst urologists aged ≥45). Women urologists are also more likely to work at academic medical centers compared to men (39.5 vs 26%).3,5 As such, women urologists are ideally positioned to not only deliver sub-specialty care, but also be involved in advancing research and discovery within their area of clinical focus.
