Diversity in Dermatology: Dermatology Resident Exposure to Skin of Color

relationship between SOC experiences and PD’s perception of resident confidence level in diagnosis and treatment in SOC compared to Caucasian patients did not reveal any significant correlations, even when combining responses with resident responses.

Limitations of this study include a small sample size, surveybased data, and assessment of resident confidence rather than knowledge. Due to anonymity, we are unable to identify individual respondents to further investigate their location. Our survey did not collect information about the patient population demographics cared for by each participant, which may influence residents' confidence and need for SOC specific experiences. However, better identification of participants’ patient demographics could be pursued in a follow-up survey that analyzes residents’ confidence and exposure to SOC pathology.

The responding residents were notably equally/more confident in diagnosing skin disease in SOC if they had an expert at their program. Further efforts should be made to improve resident confidence in diagnosing pathology in SOC in order to adapt to an increasingly diverse patient population. Based on this study, increased clinical instruction by SOC experts may address this knowledge gap.

The authors thank Mary Bohannon for her assistance in survey preparation and IRB approval. As well as Xinyang Liu for his assistance with the statistical analysis.

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Kiran Motaparthi MD kmotaparthi@dermatology.med.ufl.edu