Key result
Female U.S. MD graduates show steady growth, reaching ~52% of the 2023 graduating class.
Why the study?
Doctors of Osteopathic Medicine and females are underrepresented in orthopedic surgery residency programs despite rising interest in the field.
Observational (n=103,227)
While the number of female osteopathic orthopedic surgery residents is increasing, they still comprise less than 2% of all orthopedic surgery residents, highlighting a persistent underrepresentation.
Rising female MD graduates have not closed orthopedic surgery gaps; leaves open specialty-specific barriers.
Background Matching into competitive surgical specialties, including orthopedic surgery, has been a competitive task for medical students; however, Doctors of Osteopathic Medicine (DO) and females are some of the least represented groups in orthopedic surgery residency programs. While females represented nearly 50% of United States medical residents in 2023, they only represented 20.14% of orthopedic surgery residents. Female DO residents comprised less than 2% of orthopedic surgery residents in 2023. As interest in orthopedics rises for all medical students, it is crucial to look at the trends of how underrepresented groups are represented within the field of orthopedic surgery. Objective To determine how female DO graduates fare in the orthopedic surgery residency program selection process from 2020-2023 and to forecast data through 2033. Methods This is an analysis of publicly available data from the National Residency Match Program. Data from the National Residency Match Program was collected from 2020-2023 and included the total number of DO and MD orthopedic surgery applicants, the total number of female applicants, and the number of matched female DO and MD applicants. Additionally, the number of incoming female DO orthopedic surgery residents for the next ten years (2024-2033) was forecasted using a linear regression model, along with their corresponding confidence intervals. Results From 2020 to 2023, female orthopedic surgery residents increased in number (2020-2021: +58; 2021-2022: +61; 2022-2023: +86). Of DO orthopedic residents from 2020 to 2023, there was a steady rise in female DO residents. Female DO residents made up 10.17% of DO orthopedic residents in 2020, 11.09% in 2021, 10.80% in 2022, and 13.21% in 2023. Female DO residents saw a 50.94% increase while MD female residents saw a 28.66% increase from 2020 to 2023. Based on the most recent data from 2020-2023, we are expecting to see 160.71 ± 6.44 female osteopathic orthopedic surgery residents in 2033. The predicted annual percent change between 2023 and 2033 is between + 5% to 10%. Over the 10 years, that would be interpreted to be 8.29 more female DO residents annually. Conclusion Our study demonstrated that female osteopathic students comprise less than 2% of all orthopedic surgery residents. While the total composition of U.S. orthopedic surgery residents has shown an upward trend in female trainees, this value has only risen by 1.54% over four years. We hope that this research study increases awareness of the lack of DO female representation within the field of orthopedic surgery.
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Turnow et al. (2025) conducted an observational in Medical school graduates (n=103,227). Gender was evaluated on Total graduates by gender. Between 2018 and 2023, the number of female graduates from U.S. MD-granting medical schools increased, reaching 10,849 out of 20,920 total graduates in the 2022-2023 academic year.
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