BOSTON – If you need an operation, you may be better off choosing a female surgeon.

A new study published in JAMA Surgery looked at over a million patients who underwent an elective or emergency operation between 2007 and 2019 and found that those treated by a female surgeon were less likely to die, get readmitted to the hospital, or suffer a major complication up to one year out. 

This was regardless of the type of patient, procedure, surgeon, anesthesiologist, or hospital.

More research is needed to understand why female surgeons outperform their male peers when it comes to surgical outcomes, though prior research has suggested that female physicians, in general, have better patient outcomes, perhaps owing to differences in communication, practice style, and the physician-patient relationship.

Mallika Marshall, MD

Mallika Marshall, MD is an Emmy-award-winning journalist and physician who has served as the HealthWatch Reporter for CBS Boston/WBZ-TV for over 20 years. A practicing physician Board Certified in both Internal Medicine and Pediatrics, Dr. Marshall serves on staff at Harvard Medical School and practices at Massachusetts General Hospital at the MGH Chelsea Urgent Care and the MGH Revere Health Center, where she is currently working on the frontlines caring for patients with COVID-19. She is also a host and contributing editor for Harvard Health Publications (HHP), the publishing division of Harvard Medical School.