Women are more likely to leave the cardiology field compared to their male peers, according to a research letter published July 10 in JAMA Cardiology.
Researchers from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor analyzed Medicare data from 2013 to 2020 to compare career trajectories of interventional and general cardiologists. Findings and analysis of the study were published July 16 by TCTMD.
According to researchers, the probability of women becoming inactive in the interventional cardiology field was 21.1%, compared to 14.9% for men. The difference in probability was smaller in the general cardiology field, at 13.3% for women and 12.1% for men.
Women comprised 4.1% of the 8,488 interventional cardiologists and 17.6% of the 22,880 general cardiologists whose careers were examined.
Researchers also compared the career trajectories of gastroenterologists, finding that men and women in two specialities in the field became inactive at nearly identical rates. Women left interventional gastroenterology and general gastroenterology at rates of 21% and 10.6%, respectively. Men left the same fields at rates of 21.5% and 10.1%, respectively.