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August 26, 2022
3 min read
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The authors report no relevant financial disclosures.
Pediatric faculty diversity at medical schools does not reflect the diversity of patients, a study published in Pediatrics found.
“A lot has been [said] about the pathway to medicine and how at certain junctures there are times where we see a drop off in certain identities — specifically, in this case, those who are underrepresented in medicine,” co-author Emma A. Omoruyi, MD, MPH, an associate professor of pediatrics at McGovern Medical School at the University of Texas Health Science Center, told Healio.
Omoruyi was involved in another research project that analyzed trends in pediatric residents who identified as being underrepresented in medicine, which found that the number had remained unchanged.
“So, the next thing we thought of was to see how many of those trainees are making their way into academic medicine, specifically in pediatric departments. That’s what led us to look at this 20-year trend amongst pediatric faculty,” she said.
Omoruyi and colleagues studied the Association of American Medical Colleges Faculty Roster of pediatric faculty from 2000 to 2020, examining trends in sex, race and ethnicity among medical school pediatric faculty.
“We also wanted to see how we are doing in comparison to the population that we serve,” Omoruyi said. “And so, we were able to use that information to really come to some conclusions.”
According to the researchers, their findings suggested that the number of people who identified as underrepresented in medicine increased over 20 years. However “a more nuanced examination” showed improvements in representation mostly attributed to women. On the other hand, Omoruyi and her colleagues also found concerning results.
“When we started taking a more nuanced look, we sadly saw that for those who identify as male, specifically Black African American males, and then American Indian/Alaska natives, their numbers amongst pediatric faculty have dropped or stayed stagnant in the past 20 years.”
According to the findings, Black men comprised only 4.4% and American Indian/Alaska Native men just 0.2% of pediatric faculty in 2020. These also do not meet similar numbers compared with the U.S. population. Black men make up 12.1% of the U.S. population and American Indian/Alaska Native 1.1%.
“We are not meeting the same numbers compared to the U.S. population,” Omoruyi said. “If you look at specifically the pediatric population, we know the pediatric population is changing in terms of its diversity. It does not appear that we’re there yet, and I don’t know if we’re going to meet the growing trend in terms of those who are currently underrepresented.”
The study was accompanied online by a commentary authored by Joseph L. Wright, MD, MPH, of the University of Maryland School of Medicine, and W. Christopher Golden, MD, of the John Hopkins School of Medicine.
“The value of exposure of early career [underrepresented in medicine] trainees and junior faculty to programs that emphasize academic scholarship and focus on successful navigation of the academic landscape has been recognized and supported by academic pediatric organizations,” they wrote.
“The task of aligning, supporting, and ultimately growing the relatively small pool of [underrepresented in medicine] pediatric faculty to serve in mentorship or sponsorship capacities is a key element of diverse and inclusive workforce development.”
Omoruyi and colleagues concluded that academic centers should examine their recruitment and hiring practices, and root out potential bias to ensure a diverse pediatric workforce to serve America’s changing populations of children.
“Those who are coming through our training programs, if they’re not seeing faculty that represent the diversity of the United States, it may be a lost opportunity to be aware of how they need to be sensitive to these different populations, how they need to provide really equitable care, and how they need to just be a good doctor and strive for the outcomes that we know are important,” Omoruyi said. “We see that health inequities exist in these populations, and we do know that a diverse workforce is going to be important to [help overcome] that.”
References:
Omoruyi E, et al. Pediatrics. 2022;doi:10.1542/peds.2021-055472.
Wright J, et al. Pediatrics. 2022;doi:10.1542/peds.2022-057435.
Race and Medicine
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