Editor's Note Female surgeons achieve better long-term outcomes for surgical patients—especially for female patients—according to a large national study published April 23 in JAMA Surgery. Using US Medicare data from over 2.2 million older adults, researchers found that patients of female surgeons had lower mortality rates and, for women, fewer…
Editor's Note Advances in organ transplant research and technology have been in the spotlight for medical media outlets for much of April, which also happens to be National Donate Life Month (a time dedicated to raising awareness about organ, eye, and tissue donation). For example, CBS News published an investigation…
Editor's Note Gender bias in surgery goes far beyond barriers for individuals, according to a study published April 8 in The American Journal of Surgery. Ethnographic data reveals women surgeons face entrenched structural inequities that influence their daily work lives, limit their professional standing, and shape perceptions of surgical competence,…
Editor’s Note Pregnancy complications—including life-threatening sepsis—surged in Texas after the state banned abortion in 2021, according to a ProPublica analysis of seven years’ worth of state hospital data. In a February 20 report, the outlet details how sepsis rates for women hospitalized after second-trimester pregnancy loss rose by more than…
Editor's Note Despite a rise in discussions about bariatric surgery, a retrospective study spanning two decades revealed persistent racial and gender disparities in which patients undergo the procedure. MedPage Today reported the news January 16. The analysis, involving 122,487 patients, showed that only 9.1% with class II obesity or higher…
Editor's Note Although women are underrepresented in high-compensation medical specialties, new research shows a significant increase in female applicants and matriculants to surgical specialties specifically. Published September 30 in JAMA Network, the study found that the proportion of women entering high-compensation surgical specialties rose from 28.8% to 42.4%. In contrast,…
Editor's Note Female patients undergoing high-risk surgeries are significantly more likely to die from postoperative complications despite experiencing complications at similar rates, according to findings published October 16 in JAMA. Observed in a cohort of 863,305 Medicare beneficiaries, this disparity suggests that clinicians may be less effective at recognizing and…
Editor's Note A recent study in JAMA Surgery showed women with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) were 8% less likely than men to receive a liver transplant and 6% more likely to die or be removed from the waitlist, Healio reported September 9. The study, which analyzed 31,725 adults waitlisted for…
Editor's Note A recent study from two tertiary care centers highlighted significant sex differences in long-term outcomes after cardiac surgery, especially concerning postoperative atrial fibrillation (postopAF), MedPage August 21 reports. The study, published in JAMA Network, found that while women were less likely than men to develop postopAF following a…
Editor's Note Extensive training and lower wages lead healthcare workers to accrue more debt than those in other industries, according to a recent analysis published in JAMA Health Forum. Findings were based on 2018-2021 data from U.S. Census Bureau’s Survey of Income and Program Participation. According to an August 5…