Education Research: Evaluating Racial, Ethnic, and Gender Diversity Trends in Neurology Residency Programs Between...

Area of Science:

• Neurology
• Medical Education
• Health Workforce Diversity

Background:

• Increasing efforts to diversify the physician workforce are ongoing.
• It remains unclear if medical school diversity translates to neurology residency programs.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine demographic shifts in neurology residency applicants and matriculants.
• To compare these shifts with those of general medical school graduates.

Main Methods:

• A population-based, repeated cross-sectional study using 2007-2020 Association of American Medical Colleges data.
• Calculated representation quotients (RQ) to compare racial, ethnic, and gender group representation in neurology applicants/matriculants versus medical school graduates.
• Employed Mann-Whitney U tests and linear regressions to assess statistical changes in representation.

Main Results:

• Asian, Black, and Hispanic men were overrepresented as neurology applicants.
• Hispanic men showed a significant increase in representation as matriculants.
• Asian and White women increased their representation from applicant to matriculant.
• Black men experienced the most significant reduction in representation from applicant to matriculant.

Conclusions:

• Racially minoritized women were underrepresented as neurology applicants and matriculants.
• Black men faced a substantial decrease in representation during the transition to neurology residency.
• Enhanced professional support is crucial for equitable recruitment of underrepresented groups into neurology.