• Paul W Kranner, Denise A Mussehl, and Aaron S Hess.
• Department of Anesthesiology, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, WI, USA.
• J Educ Perioper Med. 2016 Jul 1; 18 (1): E401.

BackgroundNearly half of graduates of American medical colleges are women, yet the percentage of women entering accredited anesthesiology programs remains less than 40%. There are obviously many factors that influence the choice of a residency training program, from geography to reputation to the atmosphere, composition and camaraderie of the department. We examined whether a greater number of current female residents, a female Chair, or a female Program Director were associated with a program matching a greater number of female candidates in the 2014 NRMP Match.MethodsAn electronic questionnaire was sent to all 132 ACGME-accredited anesthesiology programs immediately following the 2014 Match seeking information on the gender mix of their current residents, the gender of the Chair and Program Director, and the gender composition of their newly-matched candidates.ResultsThe percentage of current female residents was significantly associated with the percentage of incoming female residents (p = 0.013). There was no association between the percentage of new female residents obtained in the Match and the presence of a female Chair or Program Director.ConclusionsThe results of the 2013 NRMP anesthesiology match indicate that programs with a higher proportion of female residents were able to sustain that diversity and successfully match a higher percentage of female candidates. No correlation was seen with Chair and Program Director gender, suggesting further work is needed to define the influence of female role models on female applicants' choice of anesthesiology residency programs.

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