Presented by: Natalie Passarelli BA
The Warren Alpert Medical School at Brown University

Introduction

Female surgeon representation in urology has slowly increased in recent years, from 8% in 2015 to 10% in 2021. Women remain particularly underrepresented within robotic surgery, comprising a mere 4.05% of this field. Our objective was to evaluate the gender distribution of surgeons performing robotic and laparoscopic surgery (RLS) in different urological subspecialties.

Materials

American Board of Urology surgical case logs from 2011-2022 were obtained. Cases with the following CPT codes for common RLS procedures were included: 50543, 50544, 50545, 50546, 50548, 55866, 57425, and S2900. Self-reported physician and patient genders and physician specialty were captured. Rates of surgeries performed by female-identifying physicians were calculated for each sub-specialty and CPT coded procedure.   

Results

,

The participation of female surgeons in RLS varied greatly by subspecialty and CPT code. Overall, female surgeons performed 7.18% of RLS surgeries, with the largest representation in Female Urology (36.5%) and Pediatric Urology (24.2%), and had lower female representation in General Urology and Oncology (5.1% and 3.2%, respectively). Similarly, female surgeons performed fewer RLS procedures than males across CPT codes, with only laparoscopic sacrocolpopexy (57425) demonstrating greater relative representation of female surgeons (39.3%).

Conclusion

Although female surgeon representation in urology is increasing, involvement in RLS remains low across specialties and CPT codes, with the greatest role in laparoscopic sacrocolpopexy (57425), paralleling a greater female surgeon involvement in Female Urology. Additional study of the recruitment of women into RLS, as well as same sex patient-provider preference, is warranted to ensure diversity and equity within the field.  

Funding

Brown Urology Department

Lead Authors

Natalie Passarelli, BA
The Warren Alpert Medical School at Brown University

Alexa Steckler, BA
The Warren Alpert Medical School at Brown University

Co-Authors

Borivoj Golijanin, BS
Minimally Invasive Urology Institute, The Miriam Hospital; The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University

Samuel Eaton, MD
Minimally Invasive Urology Institute, The Miriam Hospital; The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University

Vikas Bhatt, MD
Minimally Invasive Urology Institute, The Miriam Hospital; The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University

Gyan Pareek,
Minimally Invasive Urology Institute, The Miriam Hospital; The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University

Elias Hyams, MD
Minimally Invasive Urology Institute, The Miriam Hospital; The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University