Can you hear us now? Evaluating female speaker representation in national and international interventional radiology conferences

Monday, March 6, 2023

4:10 PM – 4:20 PM

Location: Phoenix Convention Center, 222AB

Presenting Author(s)

Shakthi Kumaran Ramasamy, MD (he/him/his)

Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Department of Radiology
Stanford University School of Medicine

Disclosure(s): No financial relationships to disclose

Author/Co-author(s)

RP

Rina Petek, MD

Integrated IR resident
University of Minnesota
EB

Elana Benishay, BS

Medical Student
Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
Gina Landinez, MD (she/her/hers)

IR Faculty
UCSF
OB

Olga Brook, MD, MBA, FSIR, FSAR

Section Chief of Abdominal Imaging and Interventions
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
Dania Daye, MD, PhD

Assistant Professor of Radiology
Massachusetts General Hospital/ Harvard Medical School

Disclosure(s):

Shakthi Kumaran Ramasamy, MD: No financial relationships to disclose

Gina Landinez, MD: No financial relationships to disclose

Olga Brook, MD, MBA, FSIR, FSAR: No financial relationships to disclose

Dania Daye, MD, PhD: medtronic: Consultant (Ongoing)

Purpose:

To evaluate the female speaker representation in major interventional radiology conferences.

Materials and Methods:

The programs for annual Society of Interventional Radiology (SIR), Society of Interventional Oncology (SIO) and International Symposium on Endovascular Therapy (ISET) conferences between 2019 and 2022 were retrospectively reviewed for demographic data. The gender composition of plenary, scientific and continuing medical education (CME) sessions were analyzed. Inclusion criteria for plenary and scientific lectures were plenary lectures, presentations of original scientific research, and masterclass lectures. Inclusion criteria for CME lectures were presence of learning objectives, lectures intended for medical students, lectures of practice guidelines and updates, workshop sessions, and case sessions. Moderators, coordinators, vascular surgeons and interventional cardiologists were excluded as well as lecture series intended for advanced practice providers.

Results:

From 2019 to 2022, the total percentage of women speaking at SIR increased from 20.4% in 2019 to 26.4% in 2022. There was a dramatic increase in percentage of women speaking in plenary and scientific lectures at SIR increasing from 17.2% in 2019 to 43.6% in 2022. There was an increase in CME lectures given by women at SIR from 2019 to 2021, from 20.3% to 29.3%. However, the percentage of women giving CME lectures at SIR decreased from 29.3% to 23.6% from 2021 to 2022. The percentage of women speakers in SIO annual meetings from 2019 to 2022 decreased from 29% to 25%. The percentage of women speakers giving CME lectures at SIO increased from 13% to 20% from 2019 to 2022. A total of 6 women interventional radiologists were faculty at ISET 2022 and delivered a total of 18 plenary and scientific lectures. That is a drastic increase from ISET 2019, in which only 2 women interventional radiologists were faculty and presented 2 plenary and scientific lectures in total. Contrastingly, the total number of women interventional radiologists as plenary and scientific speakers at GEST decreased from 14 to 9 over the period of 3 years.

Conclusion:

Whilst female interventional radiologists (IR) physicians percentages have increased from 9.3% in 2015 to 9.8% in 2019 (1,2), they remain underrepresented within the profession and at the podium. While there is an increasing trend in female speaker representation at national and international interventional radiology conferences, continued efforts for advocacy and recruitment are still needed to improve the gender gap in interventional radiology.