Women’s Health Week series: The state of gender equity in surgery is much more than numbers

Leadership & Management: In celebrating Women’s Health Week, this interview in a series called Women, Equity and Health will focus on gender equity in surgery.

A/Prof Catherine McDougall, Orthopaedic and Arthroplasty Surgeon in Brisbane and Kim Prendergast, Business Unit Leader, Joint Reconstruction at Johnson & Johnson MedTech, joined Health Industry Hub to reflect on the state of gender equity within orthopaedics in Australia and how it impacts health outcomes.

We still see headlines such as “First female president to lead orthopaedics association in 85 years” and “132 year wait to reach gender parity”. Catherine and Kim shared their perspectives on the mindset shifts and policy changes that are required within hospitals, medical/surgical societies and industry to enable women to be more equally represented at senior leadership positions.

J&J MedTech has partnered with female surgeons to launch a Women of Orthopaedics group. Catherine and Kim reflected on how they see this initiative positively impacting not only female orthopaedic surgeons now and into the future but the overall healthcare delivery in orthopaedics.

There is a saying ‘what gets measured gets managed’. The duo discussed how healthcare organisations should approach gender equity in a more transparent way and the bold actions necessary from governments and policy makers to address the systemic drivers of gender inequity and gender pay gap.