Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging in Cardiovascular Disease Fellowship Training

Abstract

Diversity in the healthcare workforce enhances access to care, reduces health disparities, and improves quality of care for underserved populations. Yet there is a paucity of women and underrepresented minority physicians in cardiology training programs, and progress toward achieving a diverse cardiology workforce has been slow. Here we review the merits of diversity in health care, the current landscape of the cardiology workforce, barriers to increasing the proportion of women and underrepresented minority cardiologists, and specific strategies that have been proposed to sustain and enhance diversity in cardiology training programs.

Updates on Diversity Among Cardiology-Related Fellowships

“…When demographics are observed among cardiology-related specialties, disparities have been adequately described in the last decade [6,7]. Discussions have led to many changes and initiatives to increase UIM applicants and trainees, specific to race and gender [8][9][10]. However, less widely discussed is the difference in GME and fellowship training opportunities for doctors of osteopathic medicine (DOs) and non-US graduates within these fields [11,12].…”