The Latino Resident Physician Shortage: A Challenge and Opportunity for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion.

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to examine the number of Latino physicians in residency training and Latino resident physician trends in the nation's 10 largest medical specialties in the United States and in the 4 states with the largest Latino populations: California, Florida, New York, and Texas. The authors used data from the United States Census Bureau's American Community Survey to determine Latino populations and a special report from the Association of American Medical Colleges to determine rates of Latino resident physicians in the United States and in California, Florida, New York, and Texas from 2001 to 2017. Rates of Latino residents in the nation's 10 specialties with the largest number of residents were also determined. From 2001 to 2017, the United States had an average of 37 resident physicians per 100,000 population. At the national level, however, Latino residents were underrepresented, with only 14 per 100,000 Latino population. At the state level, California and Texas, the 2 states with the largest Latino populations (39.4% and 39.7% of their population, respectively), had 5 and 9 Latino residents per 100,000 Latino population, respectively. Latino residents in California, Texas, Florida, and New York were also very underrepresented in the primary care specialties examined. The findings show a severe shortage of Latino resident physicians. While a similar shortage also exists in primary care specialties, the majority of Latinos in states with large Latino populations are consistently choosing to train in primary care. Investment and greater improvement in the representation of certain population groups in medicine and for combating the inequities existing in the current educational system is needed. The authors offer recommendations to increase the number of Latinos in residency programs and for increasing the number of Spanish-speaking physicians and Latino international medical graduates in residency programs.