Workforce solutions to address health disparities

Area of Science:

• Health Equity
• Medical Education
• Physician Workforce Diversity

Background:

• Racial and ethnic disparities persist in perioperative and peripartum care.
• Underrepresentation of Black, Indigenous, and Hispanic physicians in medicine, especially anesthesiology, remains a significant challenge.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine physician workforce racial and ethnic diversity as a strategy for enhancing health equity.
• To identify barriers and solutions for increasing the representation of underrepresented minority physicians.

Main Methods:

• This is a review article, synthesizing existing literature on physician workforce diversity and health equity.
• Analysis of psychological factors and structural impediments affecting minority physician advancement.

Main Results:

• Despite decades of recognition, Black, Indigenous, and Hispanic physicians are still underrepresented.
• Implicit bias, aversive racism, and stereotype threat impede the progress and retention of underrepresented minority physicians.
• Emerging evidence-based solutions necessitate institutional commitment and broad engagement.

Conclusions:

• Academic medicine's efforts to diversify have been insufficient to overcome entrenched structural racism.
• Foundational assumptions and power dynamics in medicine hinder the entry, advancement, and retention of underrepresented minority physicians.
• Transforming policies, procedures, priorities, and culture, driven by leadership, is vital for meaningful change.