Racial and Ethnic Diversity of US Otolaryngology Residents

Abstract

Objective: Racial and ethnic minorities constitute a growing portion of the US population including the medical profession. The purpose of this study was to examine the evolution of racial and ethnic diversity in US otolaryngology residency programs and to compare it to minority representation in other surgical and non-surgical residency programs. Method: Information concerning minority representation in US residency programs was obtained from annually published Graduate Medical Education reports by the Journal of the American Medical Association from 1980 to 2010. The diversity of otolaryngology residents was then compared to other medical fields (general surgery, family medicine, and internal medicine). Results: Overall, minority representation among US medical residents increased dramatically from 1980 to 2010 (20% to 43.9%). However, otolaryngology residents remain a less diverse group with only 29% minority representation in 2010. In contrast to other residency programs compared, African American (AA) and Hispanic (H) representation were consistently underrepresented among otolaryngology residents (AA = 3.1%, H = 4.3%) relative to all residents (AA = 5.7%, H = 6.4%) in recent years. Conclusion: Despite rising racial and ethnic diversity among medical residents in general, minority representation in US otolaryngology residency programs is lagging. This finding is in contrast to rising trends of diversity within other residency programs including general surgery.