Canadian female perspectives on training in the boys club: advanced therapeutic endoscopy.

Introduction: Unequal female representation in the field of advanced therapeutic endoscopy (ATE) has been recently highlighted in the United States. Previous attempts to determine the barriers to entry into the career have reported a lack of mentorship, patriarchy, inflexible hours/calls and exposure to fluoroscopy. Canadian trainee exposure to ATE and differences in experience between men and women is unknown. Objectives: We sought to determine the barriers to pursuing a career in ATE, specifically focussing on the perspectives of Canadian female gastroenterology fellows. Methods: An online survey was developed and distributed to Canadian gastroenterology fellows enrolled in Royal College-accredited programs in 2021-2022. Results: Responses were received from gastroenterology fellows at 12 of the 14 Canadian programs. The response rate was 46% ( Conclusions: Female gastroenterology fellows in Canada lack mentorship and role models in ATE, which seems to be a primary deterrent from pursuing it as a career when compared to their male counterparts. Recognizing and addressing the lack of female leadership and visibility is necessary to improve parity and encourage women to train in the male-dominated field of ATE.