National trends in distribution of underrepresented minorities within United States general surgery residency programs: A longitudinal panel study

Brittany D Carter; Megan A Badejo; Gerald O Ogola; Anthony C Waddimba; James W Fleshman Jr; Melvyn A Harrington Jr

doi:10.1016/j.amjsurg.2023.01.011

National trends in distribution of underrepresented minorities within United States general surgery residency programs: A longitudinal panel study

Am J Surg. 2023 Jun;225(6):1000-1008. doi: 10.1016/j.amjsurg.2023.01.011. Epub 2023 Jan 11.

Authors

Brittany D Carter¹, Megan A Badejo², Gerald O Ogola³, Anthony C Waddimba⁴, James W Fleshman Jr⁵, Melvyn A Harrington Jr⁶

Affiliations

¹ General Medical Education, Department of Surgery, Baylor University Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA. Electronic address: [email protected].
² College of Medicine, Texas A & M University Health Science Center, Dallas Campus, Texas, USA. Electronic address: [email protected].
³ Division of Surgical Research, Department of Surgery, Baylor University Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, USA; Baylor Scott and White Research Institute, Dallas, Texas, USA. Electronic address: [email protected].
⁴ Division of Surgical Research, Department of Surgery, Baylor University Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, USA; Baylor Scott and White Research Institute, Dallas, Texas, USA. Electronic address: [email protected].
⁵ Division of Colorectal Surgery, Department of Surgery, Baylor University Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, USA. Electronic address: [email protected].
⁶ Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA. Electronic address: [email protected].

PMID: 36646598
DOI: 10.1016/j.amjsurg.2023.01.011

Abstract

Background: Cultural affinity with a provider improves satisfactoriness of healthcare. We examined 2005-2019 trends in racial/ethnic diversity/inclusion within general surgery residency programs.

Methods: We triangulated 2005-2019 race/ethnicity data from Association of American Medical Colleges surveys of 4th-year medical students, the Electronic Residency Application Service, and Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education-affiliated general surgery residencies. Temporal trends in minority representation were tested for significance.

Results: Underrepresented racial/ethnic minorities in medicine (URiMs) increased among graduating MDs from 7.6% in 2005 to 11.8% in 2019 (p < 0.0001), as did their proportion among surgery residency applicants during 2005-2019 (p < 0.0001). However, proportions of URiMs among general surgery residents (≈8.5%), and of programs without URiMs (≈18.8%), stagnated.

Conclusions: Growing URiM proportions among medical school graduates and surgery residency applicants did not improve URiM representation among surgery trainees nor shrink the percentage of programs without URiMs. Deeper research into motivators underlying URiMs' residency program preferences is warranted.

Keywords: Diversity; Equity; General surgery residency training; Inclusion; Mann-Kendall trend test; Underrepresented minorities in medicine.

MeSH terms

Education, Medical, Graduate
Ethnicity
Humans
Internship and Residency*
Longitudinal Studies
Minority Groups
United States