Examination of residency program websites for the use of gendered language and imagery.

BACKGROUND: Significant disparity in gender distribution exists among medical specialties. Residency program websites are a main source of preliminary program information for candidates, and website content may influence a prospective applicant's sense of belongingness within a particular program. Given the importance of the residency program website as a recruiting tool, this study sought to examine and compare the presence of gendered language and imagery on residency program websites across various specialties. METHODS: A list of words considered masculine or feminine was used to evaluate residency program websites of the two most male-dominated specialties (orthopedic and thoracic surgery), female-dominated specialties (pediatrics and obstetrics and gynecology), and gender-balanced specialties (dermatology and family medicine) in the United States in 2022. Forty-five residency programs were randomly selected from each specialty across different regions of the US, with the exception of thoracic surgery of which there are only 33 programs. Masculine and feminine words were evaluated using a parsing and scraping program. Representation of female and male-presenting team members in photos on program websites was also evaluated. RESULTS: Masculine wording occurred more frequently in male-dominated specialties compared to gender-balanced (p = 0.0030), but not female-dominated specialties (p = 0.2199). Feminine language was used more frequently in female-dominated compared to male dominated fields (p = 0.0022), but not gender balanced (p = 0.0909). The ratio of masculine-to-feminine words used was significantly higher in male-dominated specialties compared to both gender-balanced (p < 0.0001) and female-dominated specialties. (p < 0.0001). There was an average of 1, 7, and 10 female-presenting residency team members pictured on each male-dominated, gender balanced, and female-dominated specialty RPW respectively, with significantly more female-presenting team members pictured in the photographs on female-dominated specialty websites when compared to male-dominated and gender-balanced specialty websites (p < 0.0001, p = 0.014). CONCLUSIONS: The use of gendered language and female representation in photographs varies significantly across specialties and is directly correlated with gender representation within the specialty. Given that students' perceptions of specialty programs may be affected by the use of language and photos on residency program websites, programs should carefully consider the language and pictures depicted on their program websites.

Cardiac Complications of COVID-19 Infection and the Role of Physical Activity.

Since December 2019, the newly emerging coronavirus has become a global pandemic with >250 million people infected and >5 million deaths worldwide. Infection with coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) causes a severe immune response and hypercoagulable state leading to tissue injury, organ damage, and thrombotic events. It is well known that COVID-19 infection predominately affects the lungs; however, the cardiovascular complications of the disease have been a major cause of morbidity and mortality. In addition, patients with cardiovascular disease are vulnerable to contract a severe form of the illness and increased mortality. A significant number of patients who survived the disease may experience post-COVID-19 syndrome with a variety of symptoms and physical limitations. Here, we review the cardiac complications of COVID-19 infection and the results of cardiopulmonary exercise testing and guidelines for exercise training after infection.