Urology Match: Important Factors Women Consider When Choosing a Residency Training Program

• Published in: Urology (Ridgewood, N.J.) N.J.), 2024-01, Vol.183, p.288-300
• Main Authors: Strausser, Sarah A., Mansfield, Kirsten, Zheng, Amy, Bhanja, Debarati, Hoskins, Meloria, Piper, Molly, Goss, Madison, McNutt, Sarah, Raman, Jay D., Burns, Amy S.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0090-4295; 1527-9995
• DOI: 10.1016/j.urology.2023.09.056

To determine factors that women urology resident physicians rate as most influential when selecting residency programs. Surveys were emailed to female urology residents during the 2021-2022 academic year. Residents scored 19 factors influencing residency program choice from 1 “least” to 5 “most” important and ranked their top 5 most influential factors. Data were analyzed via descriptive statistics and quantile regression. One hundred thirty-six (37%) of 367 female urology residents who received the survey participated. Eighty-two percent had no children and 57% did not plan to have children during residency. The three highest scoring factors derived from Likert scale ratings were resident camaraderie (4.6 ± 0.5 [mean ± SD]), resident happiness (4.6 ± 0.6), and case variety/number (4.4 ± 0.8). As a whole, the lowest scoring characteristics were attitudes toward maternity leave (2.6 ± 1.2) and maternity leave policies (2.5 ± 1.2). Married residents were more likely than those who were single and engaged/in a committed relationship to rank attitudes and policies toward maternity leave as more important (3 vs 2 vs 2, P