Abstract No. 534 Recent Trends of Female Representation in Integrated Interventional Radiology Residency Programs: Do Location and Role Models Matter?

While the number of female medical students has significantly increased in the past decade, this trend has not been reflected in the number of female interventional radiology (IR) residents in the United States. The purpose of this study is to analyze how factors such as geographic region and presence of a female attending IR physician impact the distribution of female trainees among integrated IR programs. All 94 ACGME accredited Integrated IR programs in the United States were obtained from the Society of Interventional Radiology website and initially included in the study; however, 11 programs provided insufficient information for further analysis. The total number of IR Integrated residents, female IR residents, and medical degrees (MD vs DO) as well as the total number of IR attendings and female IR attendings in each program were obtained from the program's website. Doximity's Residency Navigator tool was used to determine the region of each residency program, size of practice, and urban vs rural setting. Linear regression and Pearson correlation were used for statistical analysis. In total, 83 Integrated IR programs were included, with 33 in the Northeast, 24 in the Midwest, 21 in the South, and 14 in the West. Linear regression showed that there was a positive correlation between the number of female IR residents and the West region (Pearson's r: 0.2) and a negative correlation between the number of female IR residents and the Midwest region (Pearson's r: -0.11) and South region (Pearson's r: -0.07). As the size of the integrated IR program increased, significantly more female IR residents were found to be included (p0.5). Further initiatives are needed to recruit female trainees, especially into smaller residency programs and in the Midwest and Southern regions. Additionally, programs that have female IR attendings should strive to publicize this knowledge to increase female recruitment and mentorship within the department. Future research should aim to examine how other factors like type of medical degree, location of medical degree, and time of exposure to IR impact female distribution and recruitment into the field.