10 specialties with the lowest, highest female provider representation

Women make up 37.1 percent of the physician workforce, according to the Association of American Medical College's "2022 Physician Specialty Data Report."

The report is based on data from the American Medical Association, the Census Bureau and a national resident database and tracking system. Overall, it covers about 950,000 physicians and physicians-in-training across 48 of the largest specialties in 2021, according to a Jan. 12 AAMC news release. 

Out of the 946,790 actively practicing physicians, 351,117 are women and 595,673 are men, and female representation among all specialties varies widely. For example, within orthopedics, there are 1,090 female surgeons, comprising only 5.9 percent of the workforce, whereas women make up 65 percent of the pediatric workforce. 

Here are the 10 specialties with the lowest proportion of female providers, starting with the lowest:

Specialty

Total active providers

No. of women

Percentage of workforce

1. Orthopedic surgery

18,464

1,090

5.9%

2. Sports medicine (orthopedic surgery)

3,065

217

7.1%

3. Interventional cardiology

4,728

390

8.2%

4. Thoracic surgery

4,448

369

8.3%

5. Neurological surgery

5,744

551

9.6%

6. Urology*

10,077

1,003

10.0%

6. Vascular and interventional radiology*

4,010

399

10.0%

8. Clinical cardiac electrophysiology

2,626

266

10.1%

9. Pulmonary disease

4,866

616

12.7%

10. Vascular surgery

4,037

623

15.4%

 Editor's note: *= tie 

At the same time, the majority of actively practicing pediatricians, OB-GYNs and eight other specialties are women.

Here are the 10 specialties with a majority of female providers, starting with the specialty with the largest majority:

Specialty

Total active providers

No. of women

Percentage of workforce

1. Pediatrics

60,252

39,189

65.0%

2. Obstetrics and gynecology

42,459

25,682

60.5%

3. Pediatric hematology/oncology

3,176

1,768

55.7%

4. Geriatric medicine

6,143

3,382

55.1%

5. Child and adolescent psychiatry

9,961

5,441

54.6%

6. Neonatal-perinatal medicine

6,052

3,281

54.2%

7. Internal medicine/pediatrics

5,699

3,044

53.4%

8. Endocrinology, diabetes and metabolism

8,234

4,367

53.0%

9. Dermatology

12,756

6,665

52.2%

10. Pediatric anesthesiology

2,836

1,455

51.3%

 

Copyright © 2024 Becker's Healthcare. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy. Cookie Policy. Linking and Reprinting Policy.

 

Featured Webinars

Featured Whitepapers

Featured Podcast