To describe gender differences in commercial patient ratings of FMIGS (Fellowship in Minimally Invasive Gynecologic Surgery) graduates.

Design:

Cross-sectional study

Setting:

Publicly available physician ratings available through Healthgrades.com

Patients or Participants:

All FMIGS graduates from 2001 to 2018.

Interventions:

The star-ratings of each surgeon were obtained using a query on Healthgrades.com. The patient-inferred gender (male or female) of the provider, years since FMIGS graduation, and the number of website-designated positive and negative comments were recorded. Univariable, multivariable, and Mann-Whitney U analyses were performed.

Measurements and Main Results:

Of the 391 FMIGS graduates, 312 had reviews and were included in this study (31.4% male, 68.6% female). The overall mean rating was significantly higher for male surgeons compared to female surgeons (4.31 vs 4.06, p = 0.014). Male surgeons received more five-star reviews than female surgeons (p=0.0047). Female surgeons received one-star reviews more frequently than male surgeons (3.14 vs 2.50, p=0.633). Categorizing by years since FMIGS graduation, male surgeons with 10-14 years of experience were rated higher than female surgeons with the same years of experience (4.3 vs. 4.2, p=0.019). For those with 15-19 years of experience, male surgeons were given more five-star reviews than their female counterparts (p=0.003).

Conclusion:

Despite a predominantly female study population, male FMIGS graduates had higher patient satisfaction ratings than female FMIGS graduates.