Emergency Medicine Residency Does Not Reduce a Racial Minority-Based Test Performance Gap
Yvette Calderon1, Michael S Beeson2, Mary M Johnston3
1Department of Emergency Medicine, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York, New York.
The Journal of Emergency Medicine
|July 5, 2022
Summary
A persistent test-taking performance gap exists for Black Emergency Medicine residents compared to their White peers. This disparity, identified early in residency, did not significantly narrow as training progressed.
Area of Science:
- Medical Education
- Health Equity
- Physician Diversity
Background:
- Health care inequity is reduced when physicians reflect patient demographics.
- Training and evaluating racially diverse physicians is crucial for equitable care.
- Physician diversity in medical training is essential for addressing health disparities.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify test-taking performance differences for Black Emergency Medicine (EM) residents.
- To determine if these differences diminish throughout residency training.
- To analyze the impact of race on EM resident performance on standardized examinations.
Main Methods:
- Observational, cross-sectional study analyzing 2018-2020 American Board of Emergency Medicine (ABEM) In-Training Examination (ITE) scores.
- Included 9591 EM residents from 3-year programs, with a focus on Black and White physicians.
- Linear regression models assessed performance based on race and training level (EM1, EM2, EM3).
Main Results:
- Mean scores increased with training level for all residents.
- A statistically significant performance gap was observed for Black residents (β = -5.87, p < 0.0001).
- Despite relative improvement, the performance gap persisted and was not materially reduced by the final year of residency.
Conclusions:
- A significant test-taking performance gap for Black EM residents persists throughout residency.
- This finding highlights an ongoing challenge in achieving equitable outcomes in medical education.
- Further research is needed to understand and address the root causes of this persistent disparity.
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