Women in Anaesthesia and Intensive Care Medicine in France: Are we making any progress? - 02/08/20

Doi : 10.1016/j.accpm.2020.04.019

Anne Godier ^a,^b,⁎ , Karine Nouette-Gaulain ^c,^d, Marie-Laure Cittanova ^e, Hélène Beloeil ^f, Catherine Paugam-Burtz ^g,^h, Anne-Claire Lukaszewicz ^i,^j
^a Department of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care, Hôpital Européen Georges-Pompidou, AP–HP, Paris, France
^b INSERM UMR-S1140, Paris Descartes University, Paris, France
^c CHU Bordeaux, Service d’Anesthésie Réanimation Pellegrin, Hôpital Pellegrin, Place Amélie Raba Léon, 33000 Bordeaux, France
^d University Bordeaux, INSERM U12-11, Laboratoire de Maladies Rares : Génétique et Métabolisme (MRGM), 176, Rue Léo-Saignat, 33000 Bordeaux, France
^e Department of Anaesthesiology, Clinique Saint-Jean-de-Dieu, Paris, France
^f Université Rennes, Inserm Numecan CIC1414, Department of Anaesthesiology and Critical Care, CHU Rennes, 2 avenue Henri Le Guilloux, 35000 Rennes, France
^g Department of Anaesthesiology and Critical care medicine, DMU PARABOL, BEAUJON Hospital, APHP, Nord-Université de Paris, 100 Bd du General Leclerc, 92110 Clichy, France
^h Inserm UMR_S1149, Inserm et Université de Paris, Paris, France
ⁱ Department of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care, Hôpital Neurologique Pierre Wertheimer, Hospices Civils de Lyon, 59 Boulevard Pinel, 69500 Bron, France
^j EA 7426 PI3 (Pathophysiology of Injury-induced Immunosuppression), Hospices Civils de Lyon/Université Claude-Bernard Lyon 1/bioMérieux, Hôpital E.-Herriot, 5, place d’Arsonval, 69437 Lyon Cedex 03, France

^⁎Corresponding author. Service d’Anesthésie-Réanimation, Hôpital Européen Georges Pompidou, 25 rue Leblanc, 75015 Paris, France.Service d’Anesthésie-Réanimation, Hôpital Européen Georges Pompidou25 rue LeblancParis75015France

En prensa. Pruebas corregidas por el autor. Disponible en línea desde el Sunday 02 August 2020
This article has been published in an issue click here to access

Abstract

Introduction

Gender imbalance in medicine is a topic of increasing interest. Gender matters, as there is increasing evidence that a gender diverse medical workforce translates into improved patient outcomes. The gender distribution in France among the Anaesthetists-Intensive Care (AIC) physicians has never been considered.

Methods

Gender distribution is described during the last two decades in France among the whole population of AIC physicians according to their age, professional activity, leading and academic position.

Results

The proportion of female AIC physicians remained stable from 1999 to 2018, between 35 and 38%. Only 40% of residents choosing this specialty in 2018 were female. Female AIC physicians were under-represented in key medico-political and academic positions: in 2018, 0.7% of the 605 presidents of medical commissions from public hospitals and none of the medical university deans were female AIC physicians; 9% of AIC full Professors were female. In the French Society of Anaesthesia and Intensive Care (SFAR), 42% of the members of the Scientific Committee of our Society are women.

Conclusions

A gender imbalance is apparent in French AIC Medicine and worsens as physicians progress through their academic or leadership pathways. The French Society of Anaesthesia and Intensive Care campaigns for proportional representation at all levels of leadership, which translates into more gender equality in the committees of the society, including the Scientific Committee. A major policy shift is urgently required to support women, to tend toward gender parity to increase the performance of the French AIC workforce.

El texto completo de este artículo está disponible en PDF.

Keywords : Anaesthesia and Intensive Care Medicine, France, Gender, Inclusion, Parity, Women