Over the 6-year period, 107 first-year residency positions in otolaryngology, out of 1,841 spots, were filled by medical students from historically excluded racial and ethnic groups. Findings published in jam®Its 6% share reflects the inequity seen in disciplines considered competitive, often with a lower proportion of matched residents from historically excluded groups than other applicants. embossed.
Randall A. Bly, MD, a pediatric otolaryngologist at the University of Washington, said he and his study co-authors were “surprised by the data and how conclusive it was.”
Dr. Bligh and his colleagues collected data from 2013 to 2018 in ten other specialties, including emergency medicine, neurosurgery, urology, and radiation oncology, in addition to otorhinolaryngology. These specializations were chosen because they received a high number of applications per applicant, which was sometimes used as an indicator of competitiveness, according to Dr. Bligh.
Researchers surveyed the proportion of residency applicants and identified historically excluded racial and Self-reported origins from ethnic groups were collated. A statistical test was then performed to compare the concordance rate to that of resident applicants who self-reported as Caucasian or Asian.
Percentages of residency applicants from these historically excluded racial and ethnic groups who were matched to 11 specialties were:
- 11%—Obstetrics and Gynecology.
- 9% – General surgery (category).
- 8% – Neurosurgery.
- 7% – Diagnostic Radiology; Emergency Medicine.
- 6% – dermatology; orthopedics; otolaryngology; plastic surgery (integration); radiation oncology;
“When matching residents and applicants were compared, six of the 11 specialties had significantly higher proportions of whites, and all 11 specialties represented historically excluded racial and ethnic groups. a significantly lower proportion of people,” the study said.
According to this study, the six physician specialties in which white matched residents were overrepresented were dermatology, emergency medicine, general surgery (categorical), obstetrics and gynecology, and plastic surgery (integrated). .
AMA Policy Adopted in 2021, the regulation will support medical student pathways to training and promote greater diversity in medical education and the physician workforce by creating a more equitable resident selection process. is intended for
The policy requires the AMA to: Applicant. “
For more information, AMA Calls for Greater Effort to Diversify Physician Workforce.
Information Necessity, Change
More information is needed to understand the causes of the overrepresentation of white congruent residents in these physician specialties, Dr. Bly said. Such information should be individualized. “Once we know that, we can identify some of the reasons behind this and draw conclusions,” he said.
Changes to resident selection criteria, some of which have been introduced over the years from research data, may help.
For example, Dr. Bligh’s ENT residency program at the University of Washington has incorporated the “distance traveled” aspect of its residency selection criteria.
“What that means is that if there is a difficulty in their background and the applicant can voluntarily provide that information, it could be the first person in their family to go to college or an area where there is a war. It’s all sorts of different situations, whether you grew up in or not.
The AMA’s policy on this forefront encourages stakeholders in medical training to “strive to improve health care by developing policies that articulate the value and importance of diversity as a goal that benefits all participants.” Adopt and use activities that strengthen efforts to support, including underrepresented individuals in Fund programs that foster a culture of diversity on campus and recruit faculty who share this goal. ”
Learn with AMA How the power of diversity can help overcome the doctor shortage.
