Abstract
Background
Sporadic women involvement in surgery has been recorded since ancient times. Nevertheless,
the presence of women in surgical disciplines has been marginal until the last 2 decades,
with several barriers still existing worldwide. The aim of the study was to explore
the history of women in surgery, with a main focus in North America from until the
foundation women surgical societies.
Methods
Database search of studies about the history of women in surgery.
Results
The 19th century registered an increased presence of women in medicine; during the
20th century, pioneer women surgeons opened the way to a more consistent involvement
of women in surgical specialties. In the last 20 years, increased awareness of barriers
limiting women progression in surgical career led to the development of women’s surgical
societies, with the aim to share common experiences and find solutions to common issues.
Conclusion
The history of women in surgery has been paved with challenges: during the last centuries,
several barriers limited the inclusion of women in surgical fields, from training
to leadership positions. Nevertheless, some pioneers actually broke the rules imposed
by a male-dominated field and opened the way to a more diverse and equal future for
women surgeons. Nowadays, the existence of women’s surgical societies in different
countries and their interconnection represents a way to support women surgeons at
different stages of their career.
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: April 09, 2022
Accepted:
March 3,
2022
Footnotes
Daunia Verdi and Linda Ferrari equally contributed to this article.
Identification
Copyright
© 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
