Ob.gyn. is the only one of the five largest adult outpatient specialties in which women make up the majority of physicians, according to a new study.
Women made up almost 62% of ob.gyns. in 2014, but none of the other four specialties – family medicine, general internal medicine, emergency medicine, and general surgery – reached 50%, reported Dr. William F. Rayburn of the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, and his associates.
The cross-sectional study of 190,379 physicians also showed that racial and ethnic composition differed between the five specialties, although whites made up the largest racial group in each. Among the minority groups, Asians made up the largest proportion of physicians in the study and were actually overrepresented, compared with the overall U.S. population. Internal medicine had the largest Asian population, followed by general surgery. Asians, along with black physicians, were more likely to be female in each specialty, the investigators said (Obstet Gynecol. 2015 Dec 8. doi: 10.1097/AOG.0000000000001184).
At 18.4%, ob.gyn. had the largest proportion of the underrepresented minorities – blacks, Hispanics, and Natives (Native Americans, Alaska Natives, and Pacific Islanders). Black physicians represented a larger share of ob.gyns. (11.1%) than in any of the other specialties, according to data from the Association of American Medical Colleges and the American Medical Association.
The investigators did not report any conflicts of interest.