Implicit Association Test Alone Is Not Sufficient to Increase Underrepresented Minority Representation in Physician...

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Health Professions Education
• Diversity and Inclusion in Healthcare

Background:

• Physician assistant (PA) program matriculants exhibit less diversity compared to the general US population.
• Addressing diversity gaps is crucial for equitable healthcare access and outcomes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the impact of an Implicit Association Test (IAT) intervention on admission outcomes for individuals underrepresented in medicine (URiM).
• Assessed changes in interview invitations, admission offers, and matriculation rates for URiM applicants.

Main Methods:

• Four PA programs administered an IAT to admissions committees prior to the 2019/2020 admissions cycle.
• Applicant data (n=5796) were compared to the previous cycle (n=6346).
• Logistic regression models analyzed the likelihood of URiM students' interview, admission, and matriculation, controlling for age and GPA.

Main Results:

• URiM status, applicant age, and undergraduate GPA were significant predictors of admission outcomes (P < .05).
• The IAT intervention demonstrated no statistically significant effect on admission metrics for URiM students.
• Secondary analyses examining individual racial/ethnic groups yielded similar non-significant findings.

Conclusions:

• Participation in an IAT by PA admissions committee members did not significantly alter the admission likelihood for URiM students.
• Findings suggest that raising awareness of implicit biases through IAT may not be sufficient to drive meaningful improvements in diversity within PA program admissions.