Diversity in Radiology Residents Relative to Other Specialties- Trends Over the Past Decade

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Radiology Workforce Diversity

Background:

• Assessing diversity in medical specialties is crucial for understanding workforce representation.
• Historical trends in resident demographics provide context for current diversity levels.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the diversity of radiology residents compared to other medical specialties.
• To analyze changes in racial and ethnic composition within radiology residency over time.

Main Methods:

• Utilized Graduate Medical Education data from 2010-2011 to 2020-2021 for major medical specialties.
• Extracted and analyzed racial and ethnicity data (Black, White/Caucasian, Asian, Hispanic, others).
• Employed Chi Squared tests to compare demographic shifts in radiology against other specialties (p < 0.05).

Main Results:

• Radiology ranked 9th in total resident enrollment among 21 major programs in 2020-2021.
• In 2020-2021, Radiology ranked 10th for Black and 9th for Hispanic representation.
• The percentage of Black residents increased from 3.07% to 3.83%; Hispanic residents increased from 4.83% to 7.35% (third largest increase).

Conclusions:

• Representation of Black and Hispanic individuals in radiology has improved over the last decade.
• These improvements in diversity are notable relative to other medical specialties.