Enhancing Anesthesiology: A Survey of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Residency Curricula

Despite national recognition of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) training in graduate medical education, the current landscape of DEI curricula across anesthesiology residencies is poorly understood. We surveyed anesthesiology residency programs to evaluate how DEI education is implemented and assessed.

We conducted a cross-sectional survey of all 164 Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education-accredited anesthesiology residency programs. The survey was developed, and data were collected using the Research Electronic Data Capture (REDCap) tool. Program characteristics and departmental attitudes toward DEI were collected on a 5-point Likert scale. Univariate and bivariate analysis models were used to generate a descriptive report of responses. Content analysis was used to identify additional themes from open-ended responses.

Fifty-three (32%) program directors responded to the survey. As their primary practice setting, 71.7% of programs were university-based, 18.9% community-based university- associated, and 9.4% community-based programs. A DEI curriculum was reported in 64.2% of programs with the median year of implementation in 2020 and the median hours spent per academic year on DEI content was 2.0 to 3.5 (range, 1-20). Of programs without a DEI curriculum, 68.4% indicated interest in implementing one. Of those with a DEI curriculum, common learning activities were case-based discussion, web-based learning, classroom learning, and simulations. The most common barriers to implementation included educational expertise, time for residents, and time for faculty. Only 11.5% (n = 3) of programs assessed outcomes from their curricula, most using pre-post surveys.

This study found that the presence of a DEI curriculum in anesthesiology residencies is relatively new, heterogeneous, and nonstandardized, and that outcomes are rarely measured.