Ukrainian women surgeons create project to combat discrimination and support peers

Ukrainian women surgeons have launched the SurgFem project to support women in surgery and combat discrimination, Rubryka reports.

What's the problem?

SurgFem, a community created by surgeons from America and Ukraine, highlights that despite significant progress abroad, women surgeons in Ukraine often face challenges their male colleagues don't experience. The project aims to support, provide educational resources, and offer career opportunities for women in surgery to remedy the situation.

"Women are actively discouraged from choosing surgical specialties, citing a lack of work-life balance due to demanding schedules, physical weakness, emotional sensitivity, and societal stereotypes. This systemic bias affects not only the careers and well-being of female surgeons but also has broader implications for the healthcare system and human resources," said Anna Maliovanna, an oncology surgeon and project participant.

What's the solution?

The SurgFem project was created to address these challenges faced by women in the Ukrainian surgical field.

SurgFem is part of the Global Medical Knowledge Alliance (GMKA), aiming to improve healthcare quality in Ukraine, provide Ukrainian healthcare professionals and patients with access to evidence-based medical information, and promote scientific research in medicine.

According to the team, they regularly communicate with representatives of the profession and initiate research to understand exactly what women surgeons need from the initiative.

How does it work?

In late March, the initiative will publish the results of a pilot study involving about 350 female surgeons with varying levels of professional experience. They come from various surgical fields, such as general medicine, oncology, gynecology, and vascular surgery.

Each participant answered questions about peer and patient assessments, career advancement opportunities, educational obstacles, and challenges of having children as surgeons.

According to SurgFem's pilot study, about 80% of Ukrainian women surgeons have heard at least once during their practice that surgery isn't for women.

Common challenges mentioned by female surgeons include gender stereotypes in family, society, and the workplace, balancing work and personal life, and limited career advancement opportunities due to gender discrimination.

Most women surgeons were perceived as nurses or junior medical staff by patients, doubted in their professional skills, but generally treated with respect.

Colleagues of female surgeons also admitted to making similar mistakes, about 70% of respondents said. Moreover, over half of the female surgeons reported hearing derogatory remarks or experiencing disrespectful attitudes toward women.

According to preliminary research findings, the most common requests from Ukrainian women surgeons today align with SurgFem's mission.

The project aims to work in the following directions:

• raising awareness and drawing attention to the problem of discrimination and stigmatization of women in surgery;
• mentoring and support;
• raising the level of education and qualifications of female surgeons;
• creating a community of female surgeons with the prospect of establishing a national association with international representation;
• protecting the interests of female surgeons and promoting gender equality in the profession at the state level.

"We, as project organizers and team members, are also surgeons. That's why we can fully understand each woman surgeon, her problems, challenges, requests, and needs. We know that gender discrimination in surgery exists, that a female surgeon needs to work much harder than a male counterpart to gain respect from colleagues and society's approval," said Inesa Huivaniuk, an oncology surgeon at the Kyiv Regional Oncology Dispensary, Executive Director of GMKA in Ukraine, and founder of the SurgFem project. "We also know taking up a leadership position for women is an even greater challenge, as you constantly have to prove your worth. It's about endless 'yes, I have everything under control in my personal life,' 'yes, I plan to have children and a family while combining it with surgery,' 'it's not physically hard for me to stand in the OR for a long time, and I can handle the emotional workload,' 'yes, I truly love my profession.'"