The equipoise of female representation in research presentations at a state vascular surgery society

<h2>Abstract</h2><h3>Introduction</h3> The Virginia Vascular Society (VVS) hosts an annual meeting for vascular surgeons and trainees in Virginia to present their work and network with others in the field. We set forth to explore trends of female engagement in vascular surgery based on VVS participation. <h3>Methods</h3> The published programs from the VVS annual meetings from 2012 to 2019 were analyzed for presenter gender, topic, number of authors, additional female authors, and manuscript publication. Each presentation was categorized by topic: aorta, amputation, peripheral vascular disease, hemodialysis access, education, basic sciences, transplant, and other. The abstracts were evaluated for journal publication and associated impact factor. <h3>Results</h3> 171 presentations were undertaken from 2012 to 2019. Women were more likely than men to present on the topic of amputation. There was no difference in presenter gender for the remaining topics. We saw no statistically significant difference in number of authors on abstracts, manuscript publication rates, and impact factors of associated journals between genders. Female presenters were more likely to have a female senior author on their manuscripts than male presenters. The number of female presenters at VVS significantly increased overtime. <h3>Conclusions</h3> Through analyzing a state vascular society's presentation data, we found an increasing number of female presenters with no difference in topic of research or manuscript publication between genders. This data could be indicative of strong mentorship provided by members of the VVS, counteracting gender biases that have been found in other national studies of a similar manner. By providing female students greater exposure to vascular surgery, they are better equipped to pursue research within the field.