Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Comment
  • Published:

Pimping in the clinical learning environment: representation of women in surgery

Women are under-represented in surgery and are particularly subject to the intrinsically gendered practice of pimping in the clinical learning environment. The potential downstream effects of this continued practice have considerable implications on gender disparities within surgical disciplines.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

USD 39.95

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

  1. Bennett, C. L., Baker, O., Rangel, E. L. & Marsh, R. H. The gender gap in surgical residencies. JAMA Surg. 155, 893–894 (2020).

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  2. Nguyen, M. et al. Association of socioeconomic status, sex, racial, and ethnic identity with sustained and cultivated careers in surgery. Ann. Surg. 279, 367–373 (2024).

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Trinh, L. N., O’Rorke, E. & Mulcahey, M. K. Factors influencing female medical students’ decision to pursue surgical specialties: a systematic review. J. Surg. Educ. 78, 836–849 (2021).

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Hu, Y.-Y. et al. Discrimination, abuse, harassment, and burnout in surgical residency training. N. Engl. J. Med. 381, 1741–1752 (2019).

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  5. Brancati, F. L. The art of pimping. JAMA 262, 89–90 (1989).

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Kost, A. & Chen, F. M. Socrates was not a pimp: changing the paradigm of questioning in medical education. Acad. Med. 90, 20–24 (2015).

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Rucker, L. et al. Medical faculty and medical student opinions on the utility of questions to teach and evaluate in the clinical environment. Med. Sci. Educ. 33, 669–678 (2023).

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  8. Healy, J. M. & Yoo, P. S. In defense of “pimping”. J. Surg. Educ. 72, 176–177 (2015).

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Teherani, A., Hauer, K. E., Fernandez, A., King, T. E. Jr & Lucey, C. How small differences in assessed clinical performance amplify to large differences in grades and awards: a cascade with serious consequences for students underrepresented in medicine. Acad. Med. 93, 1286–1292 (2018).

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Wallis, C. J. D. et al. Surgeon sex and long-term postoperative outcomes among patients undergoing common surgeries. JAMA Surg. 158, 1185–1194 (2023).

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Indira Bhavsar-Burke.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Simons, E.C.G., Guardiola, J.J. & Bhavsar-Burke, I. Pimping in the clinical learning environment: representation of women in surgery. Nat Rev Urol 22, 192–193 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41585-024-00950-3

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Version of record:

  • Issue date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41585-024-00950-3

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing