Choubey, Apurva S. BS1; Choubey, Ankur P. MD, MPH2; Ortiz, Alejandro Chiodo BS3; Ortiz, Jorge MD3
1 University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH.
2 Department of Surgery, Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, New Brunswick, NJ.
3 Department of Surgery, Albany Medical Center, Albany, NY.
Received 27 September 2022.
Accepted 13 October 2022.
The authors declare no funding or conflicts of interest.
A.S.C. wrote the article. A.P.C. wrote the article and performed critical revisions. A.C.O. wrote the article. J.O. wrote the article and performed critical revisions.
Correspondence: Ankur P. Choubey, MD, MPH, Department of Surgery, Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, 125 Paterson St, New Brunswick, NJ 08901. ([email protected]).
We were pleased to read the pertinent investigation by de Rosner–van Rosmalen and colleagues, titled “Women Leadership in Liver Transplantation—Results of an International Survey.”1 It is admirable that the International Liver Transplantation Society (ILTS) has undertaken this important task of assessing the worldwide gender distribution of liver transplant physicians and surgeons. As the authors state, although the ILTS has made its goal to strive for gender equity and equality, it is first necessary to understand the gaps in the current paradigm. Results from 243 liver transplantation (LT) centers, collected worldwide, largely represented North America (47.7%) and Europe (35.0%), followed by Asia (11.9%). Furthermore, only 32 (13.2%) of the 243 centers had at least 1 woman as the director of LT, chief of transplant surgery, or chief of transplant hepatology. Additionally, of the centers reporting gender data, only 18.2% of transplant surgeons were women, and 31.9% of hepatologists were women. The results of this study are crucial for tracking future progress toward gender equity.
Our analysis of gender and ethnic demographics of Transplant Surgery departmental leaders in the United States demonstrated a similar homogeneity: 91.5% of transplant surgical directors were male, and 55% identify as non-Hispanic White.2 We discovered that, of the 113 LT programs included, 93.1% had a male leader, compared with 91.2% for kidney transplant and 90.3% for pancreas transplant programs. Comparing ethnic backgrounds, 54.3% of LT leaders were non-Hispanic White, compared with 55.7% for kidney transplant and 54% for pancreas transplant leaders.
Ultimately, the work performed by the authors deserves commendation for describing the current demographics of the ILTS leaders, as we strive for a more inclusive community. The authors are correct in noting that these data should serve as a launching point for accelerating the promotion of equity in LT. We hope similar works in the future will showcase the progress in the field toward equity.
REFERENCES
1. de Rosner-van Rosmalen M, Adelmann D, Berlakovich GA, et al. Women leadership in liver transplantation—results of an international survey. Transplantation. 2022;106:1699–1702.
2. Choubey AP, Bullock B, Choubey AS, et al. Transplant surgery departmental leaders do not represent workforce demographics especially among women and underrepresented minorities—a retrospective analysis. Am J Surg. 2022;224(1 Pt A):153–159.
