Evolution of Pediatric Critical Care Medicine Physicians Clinical and Academic Profile by Gender

Abstract

Objectives: To examine career trajectory and academic profile of Pediatric Critical Care Medicine (PCCM) physicians, with special focus on gender differences. Design: Observational cross-sectional study of PCCM fellowship graduates using publicly available data. Setting: Publicly available databases including National Provider Identifier registry, American Board of Pediatrics, Doximity, official hospital websites, and Scopus. Subjects: Two thousand one hundred twenty-nine PCCM fellowship graduates employed in clinical positions in U.S. practice locations. Intervention: None. Measurements and Main Results: Physician demographic characteristics included gender and time since fellowship completion. Current career and academic characteristics included employment data, publication productivity (h-index), and academic rank. Data from 2129 career PCCM physicians was included, with recent graduates showing a notable increase in female representation. Workplace characteristics revealed that most PCCM physicians worked in university-affiliated hospitals, with higher percentages of female physicians working in university-affiliated hospitals compared with male physicians. The study also highlighted significant gender disparities in academic metrics, with male physicians having higher h-indices (3 vs. 2; p < 0.001) and more publications (6 vs. 4; p < 0.001) than their female counterparts across various career phases. Additionally, the analysis showed gender differences in academic rank, with a higher proportion of female faculty holding assistant and associate professor ranks (58.2% vs. 47.5%; p < 0.001), while a greater percentage of male faculty held the rank of professor (20.2% vs. 11.1%; p < 0.001). Multiple variable regression analysis identified both male gender and time since fellowship graduation as independently associated with a physician’s h-index, while only time since fellowship graduation was linked to current academic rank. Conclusions: This is the first analysis of career and academic characteristics of practicing PCCM physicians, additionally studying the association of gender and career trajectory. Gender discrepancy was seen in employment hospital characteristics, h-indices, and academic rank. Additional studies are required to further explore the impact of gender on career trajectory.