Anesthesia and analgesia
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Anesthesia and analgesia · Aug 2024
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in US Anesthesiology Residency Matching.
Patient outcomes are improved with physician-patient gender, racial, and ethnic concordance. However, female, Black, Hispanic or Latino, Native Hawaiian-Pacific Islander (NH-PI), and American Indian-Native Alaskan (AI-AN) physicians are underrepresented in anesthesiology. The American Association of Medical Colleges 2018 Diversity in Medicine Report revealed that women comprise only 35% of anesthesiologists yet nearly half of medical school graduates are women. More than 77% of anesthesiologists are White or Asian. Anesthesiology applicant and match trends may provide insights needed to address underrepresentation within anesthesiology. We hypothesized that proportionally fewer women and racially and ethnically minoritized applicants apply and match into anesthesiology. ⋯ From 2011 to 2022, women had lower odds of applying to anesthesiology residency than men yet had similar odds of matching. Racial and ethnic minoritized groups had significantly lower odds of matching compared to White applicants despite similar odds of applying. These findings highlight disparities in the anesthesiology match and may help identify opportunities to promote workforce diversity within the field. More detailed reporting of gender, race, and ethnicity in annual match data may better define barriers to entry and identify opportunities for improvement.