Why this matters
Diversity, equity, and inclusion in medicine continue to be pressing concerns. In particular, the surgical specialties — like orthopedic surgery — have historically lagged behind in representation of women and underrepresented minorities (URMs).
Our YourMedMom research team set out to explore whether academic productivity during residency — a key factor influencing fellowship placement and academic advancement — differs by gender or race/ethnicity among orthopedic surgery residents.
Study at a glance
Objective:
To evaluate whether research productivity differs by gender or URM status among orthopedic surgery residents in highly funded U.S. programs.
Design & Methods:
The study analyzed residents from the top 50 NIH-funded orthopedic programs (graduating classes of 2022–2023). For each resident, publicly available data were collected on:
- Gender and race/ethnicity (based on AAMC definitions)
- Total, first-author, middle-author, and last-author publications
- Citations and h-index at graduation
Who was included
573 residents total:
- 471 men (82.2%), 102 women (17.8%)
- 525 ORM (Overrepresented in medicine, which includes individuals of White or Asian descent) (91.6%), 48 URM (Underrepresented in medicine, which includes individuals of Black or African American, Latino/a or of Spanish descent, American Indian or Alaskan Native, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander) (8.4%)
Median productivity for all residents:
- Total publications: 5
- Citations: 32
- h-index: 3
Key Findings
Gender differences
- Women had fewer total publications (median 4.5 vs 6.0 for men, p = 0.04)
- Fewer middle-author and last-author papers
- Fewer citations and slightly lower h-index
- No difference in first-author publications — meaning women are producing comparable independent work, but may have fewer collaborative opportunities.
URM vs ORM differences
- No significant differences in publications, citations, or h-index by URM status.
- However, URM representation was low (8.4%), highlighting the continued need for recruitment and support initiatives.
What this means
Our study shows that the gender gap in research productivity among orthopedic residents isn’t limited to just a few top programs — it’s happening across the board. Even in high-funded, research-intensive residencies, women are still publishing less overall than men.
Why? Prior studies point to several possibilities: less access to mentorship, fewer informal research opportunities, and competing clinical or personal responsibilities that make it harder to find protected time for projects. These same factors likely played a role in our results.
Interestingly, female residents published just as many first-author papers, showing strong independent work. But they had fewer collaborative and senior authorship roles, which are often where networking and mentorship really come into play.
Why it matters for the field
This gap isn’t new — it’s been seen at the faculty level too. Studies have shown that male orthopedic surgeons continue to publish at higher rates than women, and that the growth in female senior authorship hasn’t kept pace with the number of women entering the field (Brown et al., 2020). And beyond orthopedics, male residents in many surgical subspecialties also tend to out-publish their female peers.
In short, the playing field still isn’t level when it comes to research opportunity and visibility. But recognizing that gap is the first step to changing it. Building better mentorship networks, creating inclusive research spaces, and making room for real work-life balance can help close that divide — and strengthen the field for everyone.
Moving forward
- Residency programs: should ensure equitable access to mentorship, protected research time, and collaborative opportunities.
- Residents and students: can be proactive in seeking research mentors, joining multi-author projects, and tracking their progress early.
- Institutions: must continue addressing systemic barriers that limit inclusion in academic medicine.
From YourMedMom
This work was led by the YourMedMom Research Team as part of our ongoing commitment to advancing equity, mentorship, and representation in orthopedic surgery and academic medicine.
If you or your team have recently published a paper — whether on diversity, gender equity, medical education, or any other topic that pushes the field forward — we’d love to highlight it!
👉 Send us your article ([email protected]) or tag @YourMedMom so we can feature your work in an upcoming post!
