Diversity Within US Gastroenterology Physician Practices: The Pipeline, Cultural Competencies, and Gastroenterology Societies Approaches

Diversification in the medical sciences fuels growth of physician-scientists

“…There has also been no change in the percentage of underrepresented in medicine gastroenterology faculty; collectively, as a group, they are less than 10% of faculty from 2010 to 2017, with no increase over time (9). This observation extends to multiple other specialties.…”

“…For instance, while Blacks and Hispanics make up 13% and 18% of the US population, respectively, they make up only 6% and 8% of all residents and fellows, 4% and 5% of practicing physicians, 4% and 5% of oncology fellows, and 2% and 3% of practicing oncologists (8). Within the subspecialty of gastroenterology from 2010 to 2017, the percentage of underrepresented in medicine applicants to fellowship fell from 14.3% to 12.1%, and there has been no change in the percentage of matriculated Hispanic, Black, or Native American gastroenterology fellows (9).…”

Toward realizing diversity in academic medicine

“…All trainees at the resident and fellowship level want to learn and excel in their specialty to become independent practitioners, and URiM trainees are no different. Some URiMs and non-URiMs want to care for a diverse set of patients during their training to gain medical expertise across the entire scope of race and ethnicities (9); this aspect may drive match-list choice to avoid programs not perceived as providing care for a diverse patient population. URiM trainees may also experience direct patient biases particularly if a patient is not from the same racial or ethnic background (6,7,9).…”

“…Some URiMs and non-URiMs want to care for a diverse set of patients during their training to gain medical expertise across the entire scope of race and ethnicities (9); this aspect may drive match-list choice to avoid programs not perceived as providing care for a diverse patient population. URiM trainees may also experience direct patient biases particularly if a patient is not from the same racial or ethnic background (6,7,9). In most programs, there may be only one or a few trainees who are URiMs in the entire program, which can generate feelings of loneliness and isolation if there is no support network.…”

“…URiMs either tolerate the structures and culture to achieve some level of growth in academic medicine or become overwhelmed and simply give up (1-3, 7, 8). Certainly, the numbers of URiMs in the pipeline for medical school, residency and fellowship, and academic faculty are adversely affected by current processes (5,6,9).…”