Addressing Minority Representation in Dermatology

Kwatra, Shawn G.; He, Alice; Loss, Manisha J.; Okoye, Ginette A.

doi:10.1001/jamadermatol.2017.3224

Cited by 8 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…However, interventions aimed at enhancing their interest in this field remain limited. While one existing study has demonstrated the efficacy of multi-session interventions with mentorship among minority high school students [ 16 ], our study is novel in that it finds that a shorter, more concise, educational intervention can also be effective in increasing interest in the field of dermatology among UIM pre-medical students.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 92%

Assessing Familiarity and Interest in Dermatology Among Underrepresented Minority Pre-medical Students Following an Introductory Lecture

Rinderknecht,

Teklu,

Lester

2024

Cureus

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Dermatology is the second least diverse specialty in medicine. This may be due in part to limited early exposure and the lack of familiarity among minority pre-medical and medical students. Our study evaluated an intervention where 62 pre-medical students attended a virtual dermatology seminar on May 6, 2022. The seminar introduced dermatology, highlighted key leaders of color, and provided an opportunity for questions and responses. Surveys assessing familiarity with and interest in dermatology were administered before and after the seminar. Data was stored in Qualtrics (Provo, UT) and analyzed using RStudio (Posit PBC, Boston, MA), with a response rate of 89% (n=55). In the pre-survey, 20 students (32%) reported being familiar/very familiar with dermatology, compared to 47 students (85%) in the post-survey (P-value<0.001). Additionally, 26% (n=16) of students reported being likely to consider dermatology as a profession in the pre-survey versus the post-survey. These results suggest that targeted early-career interventions, such as this seminar, can increase familiarity and interest in dermatology among underrepresented in medicine (UIM) students, potentially contributing to greater diversity in the field.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 92%

Assessing Familiarity and Interest in Dermatology Among Underrepresented Minority Pre-medical Students Following an Introductory Lecture

Rinderknecht,

Teklu,

Lester

2024

Cureus

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“…Our department has partnered with the Medical Education Resources Initiative for Teens (MERIT) (https://www.meritbaltimore.org/) to implement a dermatology curriculum for minority Baltimore City high school students interested in health care professions. 7 These students shadow our faculty and residents, receiving one-on-one mentorship in our clinic environment. The students who participate report a significant increase in their interest in a career in dermatology.…”

Section: Supporting the "Pipeline"mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Therefore, it is essential to increase outreach and mentoring at all levels, starting in high school or sooner, if possible. Our department has partnered with the Medical Education Resources Initiative for Teens (MERIT) (https://www.meritbaltimore.org/) to implement a dermatology curriculum for minority Baltimore City high school students interested in health care professions . These students shadow our faculty and residents, receiving one-on-one mentorship in our clinic environment.…”

Section: Supporting the “Pipeline”mentioning

confidence: 99%

Increasing Minority Representation in the Dermatology Department

Oyesanya¹,

Grossberg²,

Okoye³

2018

JAMA Dermatol

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Recent attention has been paid to the increasing ethnic and racial diversity of the American population, which sharply contrasts with the lagging number of dermatology clinicians from groups that are underrepresented in medicine (UIM; including African Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans, and Pacific islanders). While approximately 16% of the US population identifies as Hispanic and 13% identify as African American, only 4% of dermatologists identify as Hispanic and 3% as African American. 1 This discrepancy between the diversity in the American population and the dermatologists who will provide care to them will only become more marked as the ethnic diversity of our country continues to evolve.For this reason, there have been several calls to action to increase the number of UIM clinicians in dermatology. [2][3][4] These demands for change note that the lack of diversity in dermatology is multifactorial, suggesting that unconscious bias, lack of mentorship, limited exposure to dermatology at the medical school level, and lack of community outreach may contribute. 3 The lack of diversity in dermatology is a critical issue that will take many years to correct. While many authors have discussed the importance of increasing ethnic diversity in medicine, studying "positive deviants" (in this case, academic departments that have improved diversity) may help us to identify approaches to increase diversity. After reviewing our institution's experience in achieving a more diverse dermatology workforce, we propose that there are steps that dermatology departments can take to tackle this important issue.First, increasing the visibility of minority resident and faculty physicians in dermatology residency programs, leadership positions, and patient care can show poten-tialUIMapplicantsthatacademicdepartmentscanbesupportive environments for their professional development. Furthermore, increasing diversity in the training environment will ultimately help enhance the preparedness of all clinicians to serve our diverse population in the future. Departmental commitments to clinical and research initiatives that focus on issues that disproportionally affect populations of color also demonstrate support for diverse populations. Last, attention should be paid to building the "pipeline" of UIM students at all levels who are exposed to dermatology. We have successfully taken these steps at our institution, and we believe that the following approach is effective and reproducible.

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“…There have been several impactful calls to action for increased diversity in dermatology. One study demonstrated that a longitudinal dermatology-focused mentorship program at the high school level improves interest in pursuing a career in dermatology ( Kwatra et al, 2017 ). These findings are encouraging, but they cannot be extrapolated to the undergraduate level or single-occurrence events.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The workshop was hosted by UIM medical students, residents, and an attending. We implemented a 2-hour curriculum modeled after the strengths of similar efforts ( Kwatra et al, 2017 ) that included lectures on core dermatology concepts and a suturing session ( Table 1 ). Attendees voluntarily completed an anonymous survey to assess the intervention’s efficacy.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%