Journal of cardiothoracic and vascular anesthesia
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J. Cardiothorac. Vasc. Anesth. · Jul 2023
Multicenter StudyMatters of the Heart: Examining Motivating Factors and Unconscious Bias in the Adult Cardiothoracic Anesthesiology Fellowship.
The purpose of this study was to identify barriers to improving diversity within adult cardiothoracic anesthesiology (ACTA) and to provide possible strategies that could be implemented by evaluating the demographics of current ACTA fellows, examining motivating factors to pursue the sub-specialty, and assessing perceptions of unconscious biases during their application process and training. ⋯ This study identified several motivators to pursue ACTA and the perceptions of unconscious biases during the fellowship. Female fellows felt unconscious bias and a negative impact against them due to sex. Due to the small number of undergraduate enrollments, the results should be interpreted cautiously. Additionally, this provides support to complete further studies. Implicit bias training is one strategy that can be implemented to decrease unconscious bias experienced by ACTA fellows.