Gender Disparities Among Professional Team Sports Medicine Physicians

Abstract

Objective: Although recent trends from the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) present encouraging growth of female representation in sports medicine, the field is still lagging behind other specialties. This study investigates gender disparities among physicians providing care for professional sports teams in male and female sports leagues. Design: Information regarding physicians providing sports medicine care to professional teams obtained by database queries (May 2021). Chi-square analysis compared gender data of orthopaedic team physicians with American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine (AOSSM) and American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) membership, residency, and fellowship census data. Primary care sports medicine physicians were compared with American Medical Society for Sports Medicine (AMSSM) and primary-care sports medicine fellowship census data. Setting: Professional sports health care. Study Population: Professional league physicians. Interventions: None. Main Outcome Measures: Gender, residency, and fellowship training of professional league physicians. Results: Among a total of 608 team physicians, 572 (93.5%) were male and 40 (6.5%) were female. Orthopedic surgeons comprised 64.7% of the physicians. Fourteen (3.6%) team orthopedic surgeons were female. Thirty-five percent of team physicians were primary care sports medicine physicians. Twenty-six primary care sports medicine physicians (11.6%) were female. Orthopaedic female team physician representation overall was comparable with AOSSM and AAOS membership but significantly less than orthopaedic surgery residents and sports medicine fellows (P < 0.01). Women's National Basketball Association orthopaedic team physicians were more represented than female membership among AOSSM, AAOS, and orthopaedic sports medicine fellows (P < 0.01). Except for the WNBA, Premiere Hockey Federation, National Women's Soccer League, and United States Football League, female primary care sports medicine physicians were underrepresented in professional sports compared with AMSSM membership and primary care sports fellows (P < 0.01). Conclusion: Overall, female representation is poor among orthopaedic surgeons and primary care physicians providing sports medicine care to professional teams. Leagues encompassing female athletes tend to have better representation of female physicians. Level of Evidence: IV.