Current Efforts in Diversity for Pediatric Subspecialty Fellows: Playing a Zero-sum Game

Abstract

* Abbreviation: URiM — : underrepresented in medicine Medicine in the United States has been hampered by a lack of diversity for centuries. Over the past few decades, greater attention and efforts have been focused on tackling this problem. A diverse workforce is important for many reasons, including a commitment toward a representative workforce in the name of social justice, improved patient care in the form of increased access and patient satisfaction,1 and service to communities for whom we provide care.2 Programs aimed at increasing diversity exist at every level of medical training, from premedical programs to the subspecialty match. Programs throughout are important because structural and individual racism impede minority success at every level, but the earliest interventions are the most likely to succeed. Efforts aimed at increasing diversity will not succeed by simply targeting subspecialty trainees alone. In essence, at the subspecialty level, this is a zero-sum game. The gains made by any one program are exactly balanced by the losses borne by others. A significant impact on increasing the pool of underrepresented in medicine (URiM) candidates for fellowship positions requires that efforts begin early and continue throughout the entire educational journey. The Association of American Medical Colleges defines URiM as “racial and ethnic populations that are underrepresented in the medical profession relative to their numbers in the general population.” This … Address correspondence to Angela C. Weyand, MD, Division of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology, Department of Pediatrics, Medical School, University of Michigan, 1150 W Medical Center Dr, Medical Sciences Research Building III, Room 8220E, Ann Arbor, MI 48109. E-mail: acweyand{at}med.umich.edu