Characteristics of the National Applicant Pool for Clinical Informatics Fellowships (2018-2020)

In a prior survey, we found that applicants for 2017 ACGME-accredited clinical informatics fellowship positions were only 24% female and only 3% were members of underrepresented minorities (URM, consisting of American Indian or Alaska Native, Black or African American, Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish Origin, or Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander). Since 2018, applications for clinical informatics fellowships have been accepted through the AAMC's Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS). We analyzed national data from ERAS on applicants to clinical informatics fellowship programs for 2018 to 2020 positions. We also obtained applicants' subsequent success in starting clinical informatics fellowship training from the AAMC's GME Track survey. Over these 3 years, we found that the fellowship applicant pool grew from 63 to 74 (17%) and the number of positions offered grew from 34 to 41 (17%). The proportion of women applicants grew to 34% by 2020 and the proportion of underrepresented minorities grew to 12% by 2020. By comparison, medical students 7 years earlier (2013) were 47% female (P=.01) and 16% URM (P>.20), and applicants to many other subspecialties were similar. Applicants' sex and URM membership were not associated with success in starting fellowship training. We conclude that the underrepresentation of women and URM members in clinical informatics fellowships has improved but not resolved. Urgent efforts are needed to increase the both the numbers and the diversity of clinical informatics applicants by promoting the field among medical students and residents, particularly among women and URM members.