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Ki BK, Onajin-Obembe B, Adekola O, Baele PL, Binam F, Daddy H, Diouf E, Fanou L, Gathuya ZN, Igaga EN, Jeque E, Mawandza P, Nabukenya MT, Nabulindo SM, Nicole Rakotoarison RC, Robert AR, Schwalbach T, Uwambazimana JD, Vilasco B, Zomahoun L. Women Anesthesiologists in Sub-Saharan Africa in the Pre-COVID Era: A Multinational Demographic Study. Anesth Analg 2024; 139:4-14. [PMID: 38300845 PMCID: PMC11155285 DOI: 10.1213/ane.0000000000006868] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 11/09/2023] [Indexed: 02/03/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Gender imbalance and poor representation of women complicate the anesthesiology workforce crisis in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). This study was performed to obtain a better understanding of gender disparity among medical graduates and anesthesiologists in SSA. METHODS Using a quantitative, participatory, insider research study, led by female anesthesiologists as the national coordinators in SSA, we collected data from academic or national health authorities and agencies. National coordinators were nominees of anesthesiology societies that responded to our email invitations. Data gathered from 13 countries included information on medical graduates, anesthesiologists graduating between 1998 and 2021, and number of anesthesiologists licensed to practice in 2018. We compared data between Francophone and Anglophone countries, and between countries in East Africa and West Africa/Central Africa. We calculated anesthesiology workforce densities and compared representation of women among graduating anesthesiologists and medical graduates.Data analysis was performed using linear regression. We used F-tests on regression slopes to assess the trends in representation of women over the years and the differences between the slopes. A value of P < .050 was considered statistically significant. RESULTS Over a 20-year period, the representation of female medical graduates in SSA increased from 29% (1998) to 41% (2017), whereas representation of female anesthesiologists was inconsistent, with an average of 25%, and lagged behind. Growth and gender disparity patterns were different between West Africa/Central Africa and East Africa. Representation of female anesthesiologists was higher in East Africa (39.4%) than West Africa/Central Africa (19.7%); and the representation of female medical graduates in East Africa (42.5%) was also higher that West Africa/Central Africa (33.1%). CONCLUSIONS On average, in SSA, female medical graduates (36.9%), female anesthesiologists (24.9%), and female anesthesiology residents projected to graduate between 2018 and 2022 (25.2%) were underrepresented when compared to their male counterparts. Women were underrepresented in SSA, despite evidence that their representation in medicine and anesthesiology in East African countries was rising.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bertille K. Ki
- From the Service d’Anesthésie-Réanimation, CHU Pédiatrique Charles de Gaulle, Université Joseph Ki-Zerbo, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso
| | - Bisola Onajin-Obembe
- Department of Anaesthesiology, Faculty of Clinical Sciences, College of Health Sciences, University of Port Harcourt, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria
| | - Oyebola Adekola
- Department of Anaesthesia, College of Medicine University of Lagos, Lagos, Nigeria
| | - Philippe L. Baele
- Department of Anesthesiology, Faculty of Medicine, Catholic University of Louvain (UCLouvain), Ottignies-Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
| | - Fidele Binam
- Department of Anaesthesia, Yaoundé Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Yaoundé, Cameroon
| | - Hadjara Daddy
- Faculté des sciences de la santé, Université Abdou Moumouni, Niamey, Niger
| | - Elizabeth Diouf
- Service d’Anesthésie-Réanimation, Faculté de Médecine, Université Cheikh Anta Diop de Dakar, Dakar, Senegal
| | - Lionelle Fanou
- Hôpital d’instruction des armées, Centre hospitalier universitaire de Cotonou, Université d’Abomey-Calavi, Abomey-Calavi, Benin
| | | | - Elizabeth N. Igaga
- Uganda Heart Institute, Department of Anaesthesia and Critical care, Division of Cardiac Anaesthesia, Kampala, Uganda
| | - Emilia Jeque
- Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade Eduardo Mondlane, Maputo, Moçambique
| | - Peggy Mawandza
- Faculté des Sciences de la Santé - Université Marien Ngouabi, Brazzaville, Congo
| | - Mary T. Nabukenya
- Uganda Heart Institute, Department of Anaesthesia and Critical care, Division of Cardiac Anaesthesia, Kampala, Uganda
| | | | | | - Annie R. Robert
- Department of Epidemiology & Biostatistics, IREC EPID UCLouvain, Brussels, Belgium
| | - Teresa Schwalbach
- Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade Eduardo Mondlane, Maputo, Moçambique
| | - Jeanne D’Arc Uwambazimana
- Department of Anaesthesia, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, School of Medicine and Pharmacy, University of Rwanda, Kigali, Rwanda
| | - Brigitte Vilasco
- Unité de Formation et de Recherche en Sciences Médicales, Université Félix Houphouët-Boigny d’Abidjan, Cocody, Côte D’ivoire
| | - Lidwine Zomahoun
- Faculté des Sciences de la Santé, CHU Mère-Enfant Lagune, Université d’Abomey-Calavi, Cotonou, Benin
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Sommerfield A, Farrell TR, von Ungern-Sternberg BS. Should we change women to become leaders or should we change leadership for everyone? Paediatr Anaesth 2023; 33:4-5. [PMID: 36468291 DOI: 10.1111/pan.14543] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/12/2022] [Revised: 08/03/2022] [Accepted: 08/13/2022] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Aine Sommerfield
- Department of Anaesthesia and Pain Management, Perth Children's Hospital, Nedlands, Western Australia, Australia.,Perioperative Medicine Team, Telethon Kids Institute, Nedlands, Western Australia, Australia
| | - Tanya Rochelle Farrell
- Department of Anaesthesia and Pain Management, Perth Children's Hospital, Nedlands, Western Australia, Australia
| | - Britta S von Ungern-Sternberg
- Department of Anaesthesia and Pain Management, Perth Children's Hospital, Nedlands, Western Australia, Australia.,Perioperative Medicine Team, Telethon Kids Institute, Nedlands, Western Australia, Australia.,Division of Emergency Medicine, Anaesthesia and Pain Medicine, Medical School, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia
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