Trends in gender, race, and ethnic diversity among prospective physical medicine and rehabilitation physicians

Abstract

AbstractBackgroundAs the proportion of women and individuals who are underrepresented in medicine slowly rises, disparities persist in numerous arenas and specialties. In physical medicine and rehabilitation (PM&R), there is a continued need to focus on diversity among trainees. This study aims to evaluate diversity among PM&R applicants and residents over the past 6 years.ObjectiveTo describe the demographic trends in PM&R over the last 6 years and compare those findings with trends in other specialties.DesignSurveillance.SettingAnalyses of national databases from self‐reported questionnaires.ParticipantsThe study consists of 126,833 medical school matriculants, 374,185 resident applicants, and 326,134 resident trainees over the last 6 years.Main outcome measuresSelf‐reported demographic data from the Association of American Medical Colleges and the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education were analyzed for medical school matriculants, PM&R applicants, and current residents for the cycles of 2014–2015 to 2019–2020. The data were then comparatively reviewed between PM&R and other medical specialties.ResultsIn the 6 cycles evaluated, women accounted for 36%–39% of PM&R residents, but 47%–48% in non‐PM&R specialties. Women applicants to the PM&R specialty averaged 34.4% over the 6 years analyzed, which was the fourth lowest of the 11 specialties examined. Black or African American and Hispanic, Latino, or of Spanish Origin populations each accounted for only 6% of PM&R residents. PM&R demonstrated a noticeably higher proportion of White (62.1% vs. 60.3%) and an observably lower proportion of Black or African American (6.0% vs. 7.1%) and Hispanic, Latino, or of Spanish Origin (6.3% vs. 7.9%) residents compared with non‐PM&R specialties.ConclusionThere is underrepresentation of women and multiple racial and ethnic minority groups in the field of PM&R from applicants to trainees demonstrating a need to improve recruitment efforts.