Evaluation of Diversity Among Integrated Vascular Surgery Residency Programs: A Lens Through Their Public Websites (Preprint)

Abstract

A diverse workforce is necessary to meet the needs of a diverse U.S. population. Objectively diverse residency programs are more likely to attract diverse applicants.

This study assesses the evidence of diversity on integrated vascular residency program websites.

The list of integrated vascular surgery residencies was obtained through the ACGME website. Each program website was evaluated for the presence of 8 elements: (1) nondiscrimination statement; (2) inclusion statement; (3) community demographics; (4) biographies of faculty; (5) biographies of residents; (6) headshots of faculty; (7) headshots of residents; and (8) listed resources available for trainees. Each element was awarded a score of 1 if an element was present, with a maximum total score of 8. We evaluated the relationship between the number of diversity elements with the program affiliation, city population size, region, program director gender, program director ethnicity, and program size.

A total of 65 ACGME-accredited integrated vascular residencies were identified. Of the 64 programs with websites, 77% had less than four diversity components, with the remaining 23% meeting a score of four or more. Most websites (83%) met at least 1 criterion; however, the median diversity element score was 3 (IQR 1-3). Six programs (9.4%) included a nondiscrimination statement and eight (12.5%) programs included inclusion statements. Nine programs (14%) included a community description, and 13 programs (20%) included resident resources. Faculty and resident biographies were included on 16% and 25% of websites, respectively. Faculty and resident photographs were the most common diversity elements on websites with frequencies of 69% and 72%, respectively. There was no difference in total diversity component score when stratified by city size, program size, program director gender, program director ethnicity, or affiliation.

Integrated vascular surgery residency programs globally failed to publicly demonstrate diversity across program websites. These results emphasize the importance for programs to demonstrate their commitment to diversity more effectively on their websites. The lack of diversity on program websites can be improved by including diversity and inclusion statements, photographs of faculty and residents, gender-inclusive material, and trainee resources.