Reference letters play an important role for both postgraduate residency applications and medical faculty hiring processes. This study seeks to characterise the ways in which gender bias may manifest in the language of reference letters in academic medicine. In particular, we conducted a systematic review in accordance with Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. We searched Embase, MEDLINE and PsycINFO from database inception to July 2020 for original studies that assessed gendered language in medical reference letters for residency applications and medical faculty hiring. A total of 16 studies, involving 12 738 letters of recommendation written for 7074 applicants, were included. A total of 32% of applicants were women. There were significant differences in how women were described in reference letters. A total of 64% (7/11) studies found a significant difference in gendered adjectives between men and women. Among the 7 studies, a total of 86% (6/7) noted that women applicants were more likely to be described using communal adjectives, such as “delightful” or “compassionate”, while men applicants were more likely to be described using agentic adjectives, such as “leader” or “exceptional”. Several studies noted that reference letters for women applicants had more frequent use of doubt raisers and mentions of applicant personal life and/or physical appearance. Only one study assessed the outcome of gendered language on application success, noting a higher residency match rate for men applicants. Reference letters within medicine and medical education exhibit language discrepancies between men and women applicants, which may contribute to gender bias against women in medicine.

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Purpose To determine whether smoking status (active/passive) affects recurrence events after breast cancer (BC) diagnosis among women. Methods A comprehensive literature search of MEDLINE, Cochrane Central, EMBASE, and Web of Science databases on smoking status and BC outcomes retrieved 5,940 articles. After reviewing the inclusion and exclusion criteria, we selected 14 articles for a full review and synthesis. Results Five studies were cohort retrospective, 6 were case-control, 2 were prospective cohort studies, and 1 was a secondary analysis of a randomized control trial. Among the 8 articles that focused on active smoking, 6 showed an increased risk of BC recurrence, and 2 showed no evidence of such an association. Studies that examined former smokers found little evidence of an increased risk of BC recurrence. This association may be dose-dependent. Conclusion Given the current evidence, although limited, active smokers should quit smoking after BC diagnosis as trends indicate a positive association between active smoking and BC recurrence. More robust evidence is needed to assess such associations and examine the outcomes of quitting smoking in such patients.

While handcuffs and zip ties are common methods of physical restraint used by law enforcement, they have been noted to damage soft tissue and bony structures of the hand and wrist. This paper seeks to characterize the safety of physical restraints by summarizing its effects on hand and wrist function and disability. Relevant studies were gathered through an independent double selection and extraction process using 3 electronic databases (EMBASE, MEDLINE, and CINAHL) from database inception to June 19, 2020. A total of 16 studies involving 807 participants were included. Lesion to the superficial branch of the radial nerve was the most commonly reported injury noted in 82% (42/55) of hands examined. A total of 6% (5/77) of examined hands had bony injury, including 3 radial styloid fractures and 2 scaphoid fractures. Both studies on zip ties noted presence of handcuff neuropathy, with 1 case report documenting severe rapidly progressing ischemic monomelic neuropathy. Overall, the use of handcuffs and zip ties is associated with entrapment neuropathies and bony injury to the hand and wrist. Further studies of higher quality evidence are necessary to understand the effects of physical restraint on hand function and disability.