Increasing Diversity, Maintaining Hierarchy: An Assessment of Medical Specialization.

Data from the Association of American Medical College's 2004 Graduation Questionnaire are utilized to predict the odds of entering different medical specialties. The data suggest women still face inequality in entering the medical profession. Controlling for educational debt, type of medical school attended, and race/ethnicity, women are more likely than men to enter specialties like psychiatry, pediatrics or dermatology, and obstetrics and gynecology, but less likely to enter the prestigious field of surgery. Furthermore, doctors that reported mistreatment in medical school were more likely to enter psychiatry and much less likely to enter surgery than those that did not report mistreatment. Suggestions for future research are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]