Sex Based Differences in Evaluations of faculty by Resident Evaluators (H-49134)

Background: Trainee evaluations of faculty in fields such as internal medicine, surgery, obstetrics and gynecology (Ob/Gyn), and pediatrics have revealed sex-based differences. One study noted that female physicians received lower teaching evaluations in all four core clinical rotations observed, with the largest discrepancy in surgery, then pediatrics, then Ob/Gyn, then internal medicine (Morgan, 2016). Similarly, a study of MedHub ratings of 3648 physician faculty showed that female physicians overall received lower median scores than their male counterparts across all specialties (Fassiotto, 2018).

Qualitative analyses have also noted differences in evaluations based on the faculty's sex. A study of teaching faculty by general surgery residents found that female faculty had statistically significantly higher scores in patient care, professionalism, and systems-based care categories, while male faculty had higher evaluations in the medical knowledge category (Angelo, 2019). Another study that looked at linguistic differences in narrative evaluations of medical faculty by physician trainees found that male faculty had the following one-word evaluations: art, trials, master, and humor. For females, their evaluations often mentioned empathetic, delight, and warm (Heath, 2019).

The studies above suggest that there are sex and gender differences in evaluations of faculty by trainees in a number of medical specialties. However, there are no specific studies to date that look at sex-based differences in resident evaluations of Emergency Medicine faculty. It is important to determine if differences exist and the extent of such variances in understanding the downstream effect on career trajectories of women in medicine, as well as to develop initiatives that will decrease gender bias. 

Purpose: The purpose is to assess resident evaluations of Emergency Medicine faculty for any sex-based differences in evaluation scoring and comments.

Project status: Enrolling patients from the Emergency Department

Coordinator Role: screen, consent, enroll and collect data.

Open to students: Yes

PI: Dr. Thomas