title: Do female surgeons learn or teach differently?
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Gender and/or gender-stereotypes might influence surgical education. We hypothesized that female surgeons might focus their learning and teaching differently from male surgeons.
  
  
  METHODS
  Residents and surgeons (multi-institutional) individually recorded preoperatively discussed learning objectives (LO) for matching cases. Narratives were classified as knowledge-based, skill-based, or attitude-based. Multinomial logistic regression analyses, LO = dependent variable; independent variables = resident/surgeon gender, PGY level, timing of entry-to-procedure date, and quarters-of-year.
  
  
  RESULTS
  727 LOs from 125 residents (41% female) and 49 surgeons (20% female) were classified. Female residents were 1.4 times more likely to select knowledge over skill. With female surgeons, residents were 1.6 and 2.1 times more likely to select knowledge over skill and attitude over skill than if the surgeon was male. PGY 4/5 residents chose attitude-based LOs over junior residents.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Resident, surgeon gender and year-of-training influence learning objectives. Whether this reflects gender stereotyping by residents or differences in attending teaching styles awaits further exploration.
authors.affiliation: Michigan State University, College of Human Medicine, Department of Surgery, 1200 E. Michigan Avenue, Suite 655, Lansing, MI 48912, USA.
authors.forename: Cody A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Nebeker
authors.affiliation: University of North Dakota, School of Medicine & Health Sciences, 501 North Columbia Road, Stop 9037, Grand Forks, ND 58202, USA.
authors.forename: Marc D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Basson
authors.affiliation: Michigan State University, College of Human Medicine, Department of Surgery, 1200 E. Michigan Avenue, Suite 655, Lansing, MI 48912, USA.
authors.forename: Pam S
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Haan
authors.affiliation: Michigan State University, College of Human Medicine, Department of Surgery, 1200 E. Michigan Avenue, Suite 655, Lansing, MI 48912, USA; Grand Rapids Medical Education Partners Research Department, 945 Ottawa Ave. NW, Grand Rapids, MI 49503, USA.
authors.forename: Alan T
authors.initials: AT
authors.lastname: Davis
authors.affiliation: Michigan State University, College of Human Medicine, Department of Surgery, 1200 E. Michigan Avenue, Suite 655, Lansing, MI 48912, USA.
authors.forename: Muhammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ali
authors.affiliation: Michigan State University, College of Human Medicine, Department of Surgery, 1200 E. Michigan Avenue, Suite 655, Lansing, MI 48912, USA.
authors.forename: Rama N
authors.initials: RN
authors.lastname: Gupta
authors.affiliation: Michigan State University, College of Human Medicine, Department of Surgery, 1200 E. Michigan Avenue, Suite 655, Lansing, MI 48912, USA.
authors.forename: Robert L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Osmer
authors.affiliation: Michigan State University, College of Human Medicine, Department of Surgery, 1200 E. Michigan Avenue, Suite 655, Lansing, MI 48912, USA.
authors.forename: John C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Hardaway
authors.affiliation: Michigan State University, College of Human Medicine, Department of Surgery, 1200 E. Michigan Avenue, Suite 655, Lansing, MI 48912, USA.
authors.forename: Andi N
authors.initials: AN
authors.lastname: Peshkepija
authors.affiliation: Michigan State University, College of Human Medicine, Department of Surgery, 1200 E. Michigan Avenue, Suite 655, Lansing, MI 48912, USA.
authors.forename: Michael K
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: McLeod
authors.affiliation: Michigan State University, College of Human Medicine, Department of Surgery, 1200 E. Michigan Avenue, Suite 655, Lansing, MI 48912, USA. Electronic address: cheryl.anderson@ht.msu.edu.
authors.forename: Cheryl I
authors.initials: CI
authors.lastname: Anderson
mesh_terms: D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D002983:Clinical Competence; D005180:Faculty, Medical; D005260:Female; D013502:General Surgery / Q000193:education; D006801:Humans; D007396:Internship and Residency; D007858:Learning; D008297:Male; D010822:Physicians, Women; D066231:Surgeons; D013663:Teaching; D014481:United States
keywords: Gender; Learning objectives; Perioperative; Residents; Surgery