Operating in the margins: Women’s lived experience of training and working in orthopaedic surgery in South Africa

Qualitative Research in Medicine & Healthcare

article

Marí Thiart¹  Megan O’Connor²  Jana Müller³  Nuhaa Holland⁴  Jason Bantjies⁴ 

[1] Division of Orthopaedic Surgery, Department of Surgical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Tygerberg, Stellenbosch University;Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Inkosi Albert Luthuli Central Hospital, School of Clinical Medicine, University of KwaZulu-Natal;Ukwanda Centre for Rural Health, Department of Global Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University;Institute for Life Course Health Research, Department of Global Health, Stellenbosch University;Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drug Research Unit, South African Medical Research Council

关键词: Diversity;    medical training;    South Africa;    women;    orthopaedic surgery;   

DOI  :  10.4081/qrmh.2023.10902

学科分类：微生物学和免疫学

来源: Institut Drustvenih Znanosti Ivo Pilar

【 摘 要 】

Medicine in South Africa (SA), as in other parts of the world, is becoming an increasingly gender diverse profession, yet orthopaedic surgery continues to be dominated by men, with women constituting approximately 5% of the profession in SA. The aim of this descriptive qualitative study was to explore women’s experiences of training and working as orthopaedic surgeons in SA and identify structures, practices, attitudes, and ideologies that may promote or impede the inclusion of women. Data were collected via focus group discussions with women orthopaedic surgeons (n=16). Grounded in phenomenology, data were analysed using thematic analysis following a data-driven inductive approach to making sense of participants’ experiences. Five main themes emerged: i) dynamic working environments and the work of transformation; ii) negotiating competing roles of mother and surgeon; iii) belonging, exclusion and internalised sexism; iv) gaslighting and silencing; and v) acts of resistance – agency and pushing back. The findings highlight the dynamic process in which both men and women contribute to co-creating, re-producing, and challenging practices that make medicine more inclusive.

【 授权许可】

CC BY-NC