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  • Virtual Grand Rounds: Sex Disparities

    By Lynda Seminara
    Selected and reviewed by Neil M. Bressler, MD, and Deputy Editors
    Comprehensive Ophthalmology
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    Journal Highlights

    JAMA Ophthalmology, September 2023

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    Who tends to speak up first in ophthal­mology grand rounds—men or women? Hennein et al. aimed to answer this question by studying 31 virtual grand round sessions of the ophthalmology department at University of California, San Francisco. They found that male attendees were three times more likely than their female counterparts to ask one of the initial questions.

    These grand round sessions were public, academic, departmental meet­ings held during the COVID-19 pan­demic. Each included a presentation by an invited expert in the field. Most audience members were physicians. Researchers, students, and other health care providers also could attend. The grand rounds were conducted via a synchronous live video communication platform. During each session, a pre­designated attendee collected relevant study data, including the sex of each attendee, sex of the invited speaker, sex of each person who asked a question of the speaker, and the order of questions by sex. The main outcome measure was the sex of participants who asked one of the first three questions in each session.

    Data for the 31 ophthalmology sessions were aggregated. The mean percentage of female attendees was 47%. Males represented 45%, and sex was not specified for 8%. Thirteen ses­sions (42%) had female speakers, and 17 (55%) had female moderators. The analysis showed that men were more likely than women to ask one of the first three questions (prevalence ratio, 3.1; 95% CI, 2.1-4.5; p < .001). Overall, female attendees asked only 40 (29%) of 140 total questions (95% CI, 20%-35%). One male participant asked a dispro­portionately large number of questions. When his data were omitted from the analysis, the percentage of questions asked by women rose to 40%.

    Dynamic interaction with colleagues at professional conferences is integral to career development and publicly re­inforces the credibility of participants, said the authors. Findings of this study indicate that sex inequities persist in medicine and academia. The authors emphasized that strategies to increase women’s participation in academic dis­course should be encouraged. (Also see related commentary by Julia A. Haller, MD, in the same issue.)

    The original article can be found here.