The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education 20-Year Trends in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the United States: How Does Neurological Surgery Compare?

Abstract

IntroductionWithin the current medical workforce, diversity is limited among surgical specialties. However, diversity allows physicians to provide culturally competent care. This paper discusses the trends in racial, ethnic, and gender representation within different surgical subspecialties with an emphasis on neurosurgery over a 20-year time frame. MethodsA retrospective review of data collected by the ACGME over the past twenty years, as reported in JAMA, was conducted. Residents from five surgical specialties were evaluated based on gender, race, and ethnic identifications from 2002 to 2022. ANOVA was performed to compare the levels and retention rates of racial, ethnic, and gender diversity within these specialties. ResultsAnalysis of resident demographics of the five surgical specialties reveals an overall trend of increasing diversity over the study period. Over the past 20 years, neurosurgery had an overall increase in Asian (+5.1%), Hispanic (+3.0%), and female (+11.4%) residents, with a decrease in white residents by 2.1% and Black residents by 1.1%. Among the surgical specialties analyzed, otolaryngology had the greatest overall increase in minority residents. Notably, there has been an overall increase in female residents across all five surgical specialties, with the highest in otolaryngology (+20.3%) which was significantly more than neurosurgery (p<0.001). ConclusionsThis chronological analysis spanning 20 years demonstrates that neurosurgery, like other specialties, has seen a growth in several racial and ethnic categories. Relative differences are notable in neurosurgery, including Black, Asian, Hispanic, and white ethnic categories, with growth in females, but at a significantly lesser pace than seen in otolaryngology and plastic surgery.