Profession ponders why there are so few female neurosurgeons

Even though more than half of all students attending U.S. medical schools are female, the neurosurgery field is having difficulty attracting and retaining women to the profession, according to a new report. The lack of women specialists in surgery of the brain and nervous system highlights a potential problem that could lead to a shortage of neurosurgeons as a whole given the increasing role of women in medicine, say the study's authors. Female board-certified neurosurgeons currently account for less than 6% of a neurosurgical work force that numbers more than 3,000.