Striving for Diversity: National Survey of OB-GYN Program Directors Reporting Residency Recruitment Strategies for Underrepresented Minorities

Abstract

To characterize strategies among OB-GYN residency programs to recruit underrepresented minorities in medicine, the relative effectiveness of these approaches, and the associated barriers to recruitment. We conducted a survey to solicit strategies from OB-GYN PDs at 253 United States (U.S.) accredited programs for recruiting underrepresented minorities in medicine (URiM) applicants. We also sought their relative effectiveness and barriers to recruitment. A national survey of U.S. accredited residency programs in OB-GYN in 2017-2018. A total of 56 (22% response rate) PDs responded. Programs reported either "some" or "significant emphasis" on URiM recruitment (77%), with only 32% employing specific recruitment strategies. Fifteen (83%) reported using race and/or ethnicity data in the U.S.'s centralized electronic residency application service, 10 (56%) recruiting applicants from URiM association events, 9 (50%) meeting with potential URiMs prior to official interviews, and 5 (28%) offering a second visit. Efforts perceived to be most effective were second visits (39%), identifying race/ethnicity in electronic residency application service (33%), URiM recruitment events (28%), and individual phone calls (22%). Barriers included the lack of applicant pool (32%), lack of department diversity (29%) and lack of institutional diversity (30%). This systematic collation of URiM recruitment practices and perceptions of their effectiveness represents a toolbox of options for residency programs to consider in diversifying their workforce.