• Monica Mendiola, Anna M Modest, and Grace C Huang.
• Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center; Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Biology, Harvard Medical School.
• J Surg Educ. 2021 Mar 13.

ObjectiveTo characterize strategies among OB-GYN residency programs to recruit underrepresented minorities in medicine, the relative effectiveness of these approaches, and the associated barriers to recruitment.DesignWe conducted a survey to solicit strategies from OB-GYN PDs at 253 United States (U.S.) accredited programs for recruiting underrepresented minorities in medicine (URiM) applicants. We also sought their relative effectiveness and barriers to recruitment.SettingA national survey of U.S. accredited residency programs in OB-GYN in 2017-2018.ResultsA total of 56 (22% response rate) PDs responded. Programs reported either "some" or "significant emphasis" on URiM recruitment (77%), with only 32% employing specific recruitment strategies. Fifteen (83%) reported using race and/or ethnicity data in the U.S.'s centralized electronic residency application service, 10 (56%) recruiting applicants from URiM association events, 9 (50%) meeting with potential URiMs prior to official interviews, and 5 (28%) offering a second visit. Efforts perceived to be most effective were second visits (39%), identifying race/ethnicity in electronic residency application service (33%), URiM recruitment events (28%), and individual phone calls (22%). Barriers included the lack of applicant pool (32%), lack of department diversity (29%) and lack of institutional diversity (30%).ConclusionsThis systematic collation of URiM recruitment practices and perceptions of their effectiveness represents a toolbox of options for residency programs to consider in diversifying their workforce.Copyright © 2021 Association of Program Directors in Surgery. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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