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Yssra S. Soliman of the division of dermatology, in the department of medicine, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York, and colleagues surveyed 155 students from 28 different medical schools between January and April 2018 about barriers to applying for a dermatology residency. Of total participants, 43% expressed an interest in applying for a dermatology residency. Of the 155 survey respondents, 58% were nonwhite.
Students of ethnic minorities and students with lower incomes cited lack of diversity in dermatology as a top barrier to applying for a dermatology residency, according to a research letter published in JAMA Dermatology.Other primary barriers reported by students of color were negative perceptions of minority students by residencies, such as lower performance expectations; socioeconomic factors, such as lack of loan forgiveness; and a lack of mentors. (Minorities in the study were defined as nonwhite students and lower-income students were defined as those with annual household incomes below $40,000.)
Study authors wrote that the results highlight the need to recruit and mentor students of all backgrounds. Furthermore, efforts should be made to increase minority students’ exposure to dermatology through curriculum, providing research opportunities, and reducing the cost of visiting electives by providing stipends, they concluded.
The survey results are not surprising, said Susan C. Taylor, MD, cofounder of the Skin of Color Center at St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital in New York and a Philadelphia-based dermatologist. “I think that [the survey] is accurate and reflects the most common barriers for minority students,” Dr. Taylor said in an interview.
While recent progress has been made in discussing the subject of diversity in dermatology and identifying ways to improve, there has been little change in the actual numbers of diverse dermatologists, she noted.
Dermatology remains the least diverse medical field, after orthopedics. Blacks for example, compose 13% of the U.S. population and Hispanics compose 16% of the population, but each group represents less than 5% of dermatologists, according to the JAMA Dermatology article. At the same time, data show that race-concordant visits are longer and have higher ratings of patient satisfaction. In addition, minority physicians are more likely to care for patients of their own race or ethnic group, practice in underserved areas, care for poor patients and those with Medicaid, and treat patients who report poor health status, studies have found.
Amit Pandya, MD, chair of the American Academy of Dermatology membership committee, said that, while the response rate for the JAMA Dermatology survey was small, the results add important new information about the views of medical students regarding a career in dermatology.
“More research in a larger population of students is needed to learn more about the barriers to matching in dermatology, particularly for students from an under-represented minority background,” Dr. Pandya, professor of dermatology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, said in an interview.
He added that AAD is making marked efforts to improve diversity in dermatology through its diversity committee. AAD diversity initiatives include an intersociety Work Group on Diversity in Dermatology, a diversity mentorship program for medical students, sponsorship of Nth Dimension bioskill workshops, and the Diversity Champion program, which promotes mentorship, volunteerism, and educational activities for students underrepresented in medicine.
It’s too early to tell if the efforts are working, Dr. Pandya said. It will take a few years to see if the efforts result in more minority applicants being interviewed or accepted to a dermatology residency program.
The AAD will hold a Diversity Champion conference in September in Chicago, which is open to “diversity champions” from dermatology residency programs across the United States. The conference is sponsored by the AAD, Association of Professors of Dermatology, Women’s Dermatologic Society, Skin of Color Society, and Society of Investigative Dermatology.
“It will be an annual conference with the goal of improving diversity in our field,” said Dr. Pandya, conference cochair.
SOURCE: Soliman YS et al. JAMA Dermatol. 2019 Jan 9. doi: 10.1001/jamadermatol.2018.4813.
A .
Yssra S. Soliman of the division of dermatology, in the department of medicine, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York, and colleagues surveyed 155 students from 28 different medical schools between January and April 2018 about barriers to applying for a dermatology residency. Of total participants, 43% expressed an interest in applying for a dermatology residency. Of the 155 survey respondents, 58% were nonwhite.
Students of ethnic minorities and students with lower incomes cited lack of diversity in dermatology as a top barrier to applying for a dermatology residency, according to a research letter published in JAMA Dermatology.Other primary barriers reported by students of color were negative perceptions of minority students by residencies, such as lower performance expectations; socioeconomic factors, such as lack of loan forgiveness; and a lack of mentors. (Minorities in the study were defined as nonwhite students and lower-income students were defined as those with annual household incomes below $40,000.)
Study authors wrote that the results highlight the need to recruit and mentor students of all backgrounds. Furthermore, efforts should be made to increase minority students’ exposure to dermatology through curriculum, providing research opportunities, and reducing the cost of visiting electives by providing stipends, they concluded.
The survey results are not surprising, said Susan C. Taylor, MD, cofounder of the Skin of Color Center at St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital in New York and a Philadelphia-based dermatologist. “I think that [the survey] is accurate and reflects the most common barriers for minority students,” Dr. Taylor said in an interview.
While recent progress has been made in discussing the subject of diversity in dermatology and identifying ways to improve, there has been little change in the actual numbers of diverse dermatologists, she noted.
Dermatology remains the least diverse medical field, after orthopedics. Blacks for example, compose 13% of the U.S. population and Hispanics compose 16% of the population, but each group represents less than 5% of dermatologists, according to the JAMA Dermatology article. At the same time, data show that race-concordant visits are longer and have higher ratings of patient satisfaction. In addition, minority physicians are more likely to care for patients of their own race or ethnic group, practice in underserved areas, care for poor patients and those with Medicaid, and treat patients who report poor health status, studies have found.
Amit Pandya, MD, chair of the American Academy of Dermatology membership committee, said that, while the response rate for the JAMA Dermatology survey was small, the results add important new information about the views of medical students regarding a career in dermatology.
“More research in a larger population of students is needed to learn more about the barriers to matching in dermatology, particularly for students from an under-represented minority background,” Dr. Pandya, professor of dermatology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, said in an interview.
He added that AAD is making marked efforts to improve diversity in dermatology through its diversity committee. AAD diversity initiatives include an intersociety Work Group on Diversity in Dermatology, a diversity mentorship program for medical students, sponsorship of Nth Dimension bioskill workshops, and the Diversity Champion program, which promotes mentorship, volunteerism, and educational activities for students underrepresented in medicine.
It’s too early to tell if the efforts are working, Dr. Pandya said. It will take a few years to see if the efforts result in more minority applicants being interviewed or accepted to a dermatology residency program.
The AAD will hold a Diversity Champion conference in September in Chicago, which is open to “diversity champions” from dermatology residency programs across the United States. The conference is sponsored by the AAD, Association of Professors of Dermatology, Women’s Dermatologic Society, Skin of Color Society, and Society of Investigative Dermatology.
“It will be an annual conference with the goal of improving diversity in our field,” said Dr. Pandya, conference cochair.
SOURCE: Soliman YS et al. JAMA Dermatol. 2019 Jan 9. doi: 10.1001/jamadermatol.2018.4813.
A .
Yssra S. Soliman of the division of dermatology, in the department of medicine, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York, and colleagues surveyed 155 students from 28 different medical schools between January and April 2018 about barriers to applying for a dermatology residency. Of total participants, 43% expressed an interest in applying for a dermatology residency. Of the 155 survey respondents, 58% were nonwhite.
Students of ethnic minorities and students with lower incomes cited lack of diversity in dermatology as a top barrier to applying for a dermatology residency, according to a research letter published in JAMA Dermatology.Other primary barriers reported by students of color were negative perceptions of minority students by residencies, such as lower performance expectations; socioeconomic factors, such as lack of loan forgiveness; and a lack of mentors. (Minorities in the study were defined as nonwhite students and lower-income students were defined as those with annual household incomes below $40,000.)
Study authors wrote that the results highlight the need to recruit and mentor students of all backgrounds. Furthermore, efforts should be made to increase minority students’ exposure to dermatology through curriculum, providing research opportunities, and reducing the cost of visiting electives by providing stipends, they concluded.
The survey results are not surprising, said Susan C. Taylor, MD, cofounder of the Skin of Color Center at St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital in New York and a Philadelphia-based dermatologist. “I think that [the survey] is accurate and reflects the most common barriers for minority students,” Dr. Taylor said in an interview.
While recent progress has been made in discussing the subject of diversity in dermatology and identifying ways to improve, there has been little change in the actual numbers of diverse dermatologists, she noted.
Dermatology remains the least diverse medical field, after orthopedics. Blacks for example, compose 13% of the U.S. population and Hispanics compose 16% of the population, but each group represents less than 5% of dermatologists, according to the JAMA Dermatology article. At the same time, data show that race-concordant visits are longer and have higher ratings of patient satisfaction. In addition, minority physicians are more likely to care for patients of their own race or ethnic group, practice in underserved areas, care for poor patients and those with Medicaid, and treat patients who report poor health status, studies have found.
Amit Pandya, MD, chair of the American Academy of Dermatology membership committee, said that, while the response rate for the JAMA Dermatology survey was small, the results add important new information about the views of medical students regarding a career in dermatology.
“More research in a larger population of students is needed to learn more about the barriers to matching in dermatology, particularly for students from an under-represented minority background,” Dr. Pandya, professor of dermatology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, said in an interview.
He added that AAD is making marked efforts to improve diversity in dermatology through its diversity committee. AAD diversity initiatives include an intersociety Work Group on Diversity in Dermatology, a diversity mentorship program for medical students, sponsorship of Nth Dimension bioskill workshops, and the Diversity Champion program, which promotes mentorship, volunteerism, and educational activities for students underrepresented in medicine.
It’s too early to tell if the efforts are working, Dr. Pandya said. It will take a few years to see if the efforts result in more minority applicants being interviewed or accepted to a dermatology residency program.
The AAD will hold a Diversity Champion conference in September in Chicago, which is open to “diversity champions” from dermatology residency programs across the United States. The conference is sponsored by the AAD, Association of Professors of Dermatology, Women’s Dermatologic Society, Skin of Color Society, and Society of Investigative Dermatology.
“It will be an annual conference with the goal of improving diversity in our field,” said Dr. Pandya, conference cochair.
SOURCE: Soliman YS et al. JAMA Dermatol. 2019 Jan 9. doi: 10.1001/jamadermatol.2018.4813.