The importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in medicine cannot be overstated.
Not only can increased DEI have positive effects on physicians’ mental health and
well-being as well as help to enhance productivity, innovation, and collaboration,
but DEI has been associated with improved patient compliance and clinical outcomes.
1
,2
Despite these significant benefits for both surgeons and the patients they care for,
there is still much work to be done in order to fully achieve DEI in surgery. Women
are significantly underrepresented in many surgical fields and this underrepresentation
is especially apparent in surgical subspecialties such as neurosurgery, orthopedic
surgery, and cardiothoracic surgery where less than 10% of surgeons are female.
3
There is also a significant lack of representation with regards to race and ethnicity.
4
Only 7% of surgical faculty members and 10% of surgical trainees are of racial or
ethnic minorities that are traditionally underrepresented in medicine.
5
This lack of DEI is even more pronounced in academic surgery where the vast majority
of assistant, associate, and full professors of surgery are male
3
,6
and only approximately 3–5% of academic surgeons are of racial or ethnic minorities
that are traditionally underrepresented in medicine.
7
The lack of diversity among academic surgeons, in particular, is especially concerning
given the impact these surgeons have on training the next generations of surgeons.
2
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References
- Diversity improves performance and outcomes.J Natl Med Assoc. 2019; 111: 383-392
- An exploration of myths, barriers, and strategies for improving diversity among STS members.Ann Thorac Surg. 2019; 108: 1617-1624
- An analysis of gender disparities amongst United States medical students, general surgery residents, vascular surgery trainees, and the vascular surgery workforce.J Vasc Surg. 2022; 75: 5-9
- Examination of intersectionality and the pipeline for Black academic surgeons.JAMA Surg. 2022; 157: 327-334
- Mentorship of underrepresented minorities and women in surgery.Am J Surg. 2021; 221: 768-769
- Diversification of academic surgery, its leadership, and the importance of intersectionality.JAMA Surg. 2021; 156: 748-756
- Equity, diversity, and inclusion in academic American surgery faculty: an elusive dream.J Surg Res. 2021; 258: 179-186
- Expanding the orthopaedic pipeline: the B.O.N.E.S. initiative.J Surg Educ. 2020; 77: 704-709
- Outcomes of a pilot virtual mentorship program for medical students interested in surgery.Am J Surg. 2022; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amjsurg.2022.07.004
- The Big Sibling program: impact of a medical student-resident mentorship program during the surgery clerkship.Am J Surg. 2022; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amjsurg.2022.07.009
- Self-efficacy toward a healthcare career among minority high school students in a surgical pipeline program: a mixed methods study.J Surg Educ. 2021; 78: 1896-1904
- Implementing surgical mentorship in a resource-constrained context: a mixed methods assessment of the experiences of mentees, mentors, and leaders, and lessons learned.BMC Med Educ. 2022; 22: 653
Article info
Publication history
Published online: December 22, 2022
Accepted:
December 15,
2022
Received in revised form:
December 5,
2022
Received:
September 22,
2022
Identification
Copyright
© 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
