These women paired up at Stanford. Twitter responded with misogyny and racism.

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The butcher knows. The store clerk knows. The local church knows it. And 16 million Twitter users know it.

They all know that Aderinsola Aderonmu will be training at the prestigious Stanford surgery program.

“My mom has been to every facility for the past 2 weeks and said, ‘My daughter just got matched up for general surgery at Stanford,'” Aderonmu said in an interview with MedPage Today. “We went to the butcher yesterday, and she told them the same thing. I was like, ‘Mom, we’re just trying to buy some meat.'”

Aderonmu and 12 others are part of the school’s new surgical residency class. All but one of the incoming residents are women, which is rare for a heavily male-dominated area.

As incoming students celebrated their achievements, a Twitter storm erupted after Stanford tweeted a photo of the incoming class. With over 16 million views and thousands of comments – some negative and some positive – the post sparked misogynistic and racist comments. Many people have taken to social media to share their thoughts on the matter.

“It was disheartening to see that a lot of people from the non-medical community … had this kind of negative mindset towards our class,” Deeksha Bidare, another incoming resident, said in an interview. with MedPage Today. “But I don’t think any of us saw that as a reflection of our own accomplishments or our own abilities. Each of us built our CVs from scratch.”

David Spain, MD, director of Stanford’s general surgery residency program, said his team focused on ranking people who demonstrated leadership potential in the field. He said Aderonmu and Bidare exemplify future leaders in surgery.

“It took everything I had not to respond to these people. I was angry,” Spain said in an interview with MedPage Today. “My message to [the incoming residents] was, ‘Don’t let anyone take your joy. You absolutely deserved it, and we will absolutely do everything to support you. ‘”

Aderonmu and Bidare’s journey to medicine was not easy, they said. Both are first-generation Americans and identify as people of color. Bidare grew up on low incomes and without health care, while Aderonmu was raised by a single mother and experienced racism. Aderonmu said his mother instilled a hard work ethic in him.

“When you’re a first-generation American, you don’t just think about your success, but about the success of your entire family,” Aderonmu said. “My mum… didn’t really have much to give us, so she said, ‘Look, education is your motto. And that’s what’s going to take you into spaces that you never would have had if you hadn’t. invest time in your studies.'”

Bidare, Aderonmu and their colleagues weren’t the only ones facing discriminatory comments. The University of Washington’s general surgery program announced its first-ever class of residents who were also all-female except for one candidate.

Peter Billing, MD, a surgeon whose private practice is about 16 miles from the program, reacted to the news in a since-deleted tweet by writing, “Here are the new surgical residents at the University of Washington. No need to apply whether you identify as male or he/she.”

Billing did not respond to multiple emails and calls seeking comment for this article. His practice is affiliated with EvergreenHealth, which responded.

“It is of the utmost importance to express that this sentiment does not align with EvergreenHealth’s values,” EvergreenHealth spokeswoman Kayse Dahl said in an email to MedPage Today. “We are deeply disappointed to see this reflected by an independent provider in the medical workforce. An unwavering display of respect, compassion and equality is essential to our culture and organization, and leaders are addressing the situation accordingly. “

In response to Billing’s comments, many took to Twitter and defended the new residents. Andrew Wright, MD, a surgeon at the University of Washington, wrote that Billing’s tweet was “rooted in underlying misogyny.”

“New surgical residents … are students of the highest merit and have bright futures as surgeons,” University of Washington spokeswoman Susan Gregg wrote in an email to MedPage Today. “We are fortunate to be responsible for training them.”

The University of Washington’s new residents and program director declined to comment for this article.

Donna Lamb, DHSc, MBA, BSN, president and CEO of the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP), said many people don’t fully understand how the match works. After medical students apply and interview in residency programs, students rank each program. In turn, each program also ranks students. An algorithm then matches students to programs based on how both parties ranked, which means the programs don’t choose who is in their class – the algorithm does.

The NRMP began collecting demographic data from applicants during the previous application cycle, and they released the data earlier this year. It showed that the majority of applicants – around 50.7% – identified as female and chose general surgery as their preferred specialty. Preliminary data from the most recent cycle suggests the number rose by nearly a full percentage point.

Bryan Carmody, MD, of Eastern Virginia Medical School in Norfolk, who frequently blogs about the game, said most people didn’t know the majority of surgery candidates were women.

“Beyond the misogyny, their comments also show that they fundamentally don’t understand how the match works. The programs don’t directly hire or select their candidates. They rank them and the algorithm makes the final assignment,” Carmody told MedPage Today. . “Even if a program had absolutely no preference for male or female applicants and interviewed an equal number of each, some programs would get an all-female entry class just by chance.”

Despite the negativity, Bidare said his team has received overwhelming support from the medical community. She added that the field, especially academic surgery, is more welcoming to women and people of color.

“We are now in a position where we can advocate for people entering the profession after us,” she said. “We have reached a point where we have the confidence to believe that we deserve the places.”

Aderonmu said she wants young women and people of color to know they belong in the field. She added that she was thrilled to begin her training in a program that values ​​and celebrates her accomplishments.

“Unfortunately, I’m not always the one raised or even projected to be successful,” Aderonmu said. “Believe in yourself more than you think others should believe in you, because that’s what will get you the furthest.”

Michal Ruprecht is a Michigan-based medical student. He is a former reporting intern for MedPage Today. Follow

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