Women are more likely to be offered a place on a UK specialty training programme compared to men, according to findings published in BMJ Open.
The retrospective longitudinal cohort study analysed administrative data from the UK Medical Education Database on 10,559 doctors who entered a UK medical school in 2007 or 2008 and were eligible to apply for specialty training by 2015. The primary exposure of interest was a doctor’s sex.
Nine major specialties were selected: acute care common stem emergency medicine (ACCS EM), clinical radiology, core anaesthetics training, core medical training, core psychiatry training, core surgical training, GP, obstetrics & gynaecology and paediatrics.
In multivariate analysis, there were significant sex differences in applications to seven of the nine largest specialties, with women favouring GP, obstetrics and gynaecology and paediatrics and men favouring ACCS EM, clinical radiology, core anaesthetics training and core surgical training. Sex differences were observed in offer to general practice and paediatrics, both favouring women.
General practice was the only specialty that showed a significant sex difference in applications (OR 1.53; 95% CI 1.39-1.69; P<.001), offers (OR 1.23; 95% CI 1.03-1.46; p<0.05) and acceptances (OR 1.37; 95% CI 1.05-1.79; P<.05), with all favouring women.