Assessment of Training in Health Disparities in US Internal Medicine Residency Programs

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Public Health
• Health Equity

Background:

• Health disparities persist despite calls for enhanced healthcare practitioner education.
• A national assessment of health disparities education in medical training programs has been lacking.
• Accreditation bodies mandate training in health disparities, yet its implementation is unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare health disparities curricula from program directors' perspectives.
• To assess internal medicine residents' perceptions of their health disparities training.
• To evaluate the national landscape of health disparities education in US internal medicine residency programs.

Main Methods:

• A cross-sectional survey study involving US internal medicine program directors and residents.
• Utilized the 2015 Association of Program Directors in Internal Medicine (APDIM) annual survey and the 2015 Internal Medicine In-Training Examination.
• Data from 227 program directors and 22,723 residents were analyzed.

Main Results:

• Only 39.6% of program directors reported a health disparities curriculum, with 17.8% deeming its quality 'very good' or 'excellent'.
• Curriculum outcomes were not measured in over half of the programs (55.9%).
• 70.2% of residents reported receiving some training, and 79.2% of those rated its quality as 'very good' or 'excellent'.

Conclusions:

• Few US internal medicine programs provide formal health disparities educational curricula, despite accreditation requirements.
• The presence of a health disparities curriculum did not correlate with residents' perceptions of their training quality.
• Significant gaps exist in health disparities education within internal medicine residency programs, impacting future healthcare practitioners.