Racial and Ethnic Disparities Among US Academic Dermatology Leadership and Its Influence on Resident Diversity

July 2023 | Volume 22 | Issue 7 | 653 | Copyright © July 2023


Published online June 30, 2023

Madelaine Fritsche BSa, Pritika Singh a, Shouhao Zhou PhDb, Lauren Claire Hollins MDc

aPenn State College of Medicine, Hershey, PA
bDivision of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics, Department of Public Health Sciences, The Pennsylvania State University, Hershey, PA
cPenn State Hershey Medical Center Department of Dermatology, Hershey, PA

Abstract
Background: Diversity in medicine improves mentorship and patient care. However, dermatology is one of the least diverse specialties. We analyzed the racial distributions across leadership positions at academic dermatology programs and explored potential influences on resident racial/ethnic composition. 
Methods: A list of ACGME-accredited dermatology programs was obtained. Residency program websites, hospital websites, and publicly available data were used to ascertain race and ethnicity of academic dermatology leadership and residents. SAS version 9.4 was used to calculate descriptive statistics and associations between racial/ethnic composition of dermatologists in leadership positions and residents. 
Results: URM individuals were significantly underrepresented across both leadership (6.9%) and resident (12.0%) positions. No statistically significant correlation was found between the percent of URM leadership and URM residents. 
Conclusion: Diversity among the US population, medical students, dermatology trainees, and faculty are not reflected in departmental leadership in academic dermatology. This may influence URM recruitment into the field, retention of URM faculty and residents, and mentorship opportunities for URM dermatologists interested in leadership positions. Efforts are needed to improve disparities in representation across leadership roles in academic dermatology. 

Fritsche M, Singh P, Zhou S, et al. Racial and ethnic disparities among US Academic Dermatology Leadership and its influence on resident diversity. J Drugs Dermatol. 2023;22(7):653-656. doi:10.36849/JDD.7114.

INTRODUCTION

It is known that dermatology is one of the least diverse fields in medicine. It continues to fall behind most other specialties in attracting and matching underrepresented in medicine (URM) applicants, which is defined by the AAMC as American Indian/Alaska Native, Black, Latino/Latina, or Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander.1-4 URM applicants report racial and ethnic diversity as being very important in regard to residency program selection,5 and race-concordant recruitment and mentorship are highly effective.6 In addition, the absence of URM dermatologists in mentorship and leadership positions has been cited as a barrier for URM students interested in dermatology.7,8 Unfortunately, URM dermatologists make up less than 10% of all academic dermatology faculty.9 Therefore, URM recruitment may be limited by the small proportion of URM faculty members, and potentially even fewer URM leaders, available to provide support and mentorship.

To our knowledge, there are no prior studies of URM composition among academic dermatology leadership and the relationship to the racial and ethnic composition of residents. Therefore, we sought to (1) determine the current racial and ethnic composition of US dermatology residency leadership and (2) investigate the relationship between leadership diversity and the composition of URM residents. Developing a better understanding of racial gaps will allow us to create actionable goals to close gaps and ensure academic dermatology leadership is reflective of the faculty, trainees, and patients we serve.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

This study was deemed exempt by the Penn State Health Human Research Protection Program. A cross-sectional study of the racial and ethnic makeup of US dermatology residency programs was performed in March 2022. A list of US accredited dermatology programs was obtained from the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) website. Program and hospital websites were used to identify program leadership and residents. Leadership positions included Chair, Vice Chair, Chief, Program Director, Associate Program Director, and Assistant Program Director. If an individual held multiple positions, only their highest position was recorded to avoid redundancy. Two
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