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Diversity Elements on Maternal Fetal Medicine Fellowship Websites: Opportunity for Improvement in Recruitment and Representation

2021; Elsevier BV; Volume: 226; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/j.ajog.2021.11.177

1097-6868

Veronica Winget, Amanda McWhirter, Marisa Tran, Marisa Delgado, Celia Valenzuela, Teresa Orth,

Cultural Competency in Health Care

To analyze Maternal Fetal Medicine (MFM) fellowship websites for presence of diversity elements important to underrepresented minorities in medicine (URIM).[1] [1] Underrepresented in medicine definition. AAMC. https://www.aamc.org/what-we-do/equity-diversity-inclusion/underrepresented-in-medicine. Accessed August 1, 2021. Fellowship websites (Society for MFM) were accessed summer of 2021. We identified 12 website elements that demonstrate commitment to diversity: 1) nondiscrimination statement; 2) diversity and inclusion message; 3) diversity specific language; 4) resources for trainees; 5) community demographics; 6-7) personalized biographies of faculty or fellows; 8-9) individual photographs of faculty or fellows; 10) photos or biographies of alumni; 11) diversity publications and; 12) department statistics. Program size, region, and location were collected. Self-reported URIM data on obstetrics programs was extracted from the National GME Survey 2019. Programs were dichotomized into 6+ diversity elements. Nonparametric, chi-square and Fisher's exact were used. MFM fellowship programs (excluded military/fetal surgery) were analyzed (n = 91/94). Websites included a mean of 4.1± 2.5 diversity elements. Most (n =75, 82.4%) featured < 6 elements. When dichotomized to 6+ diversity elements, larger faculty size was the only significant factor (p=0.01). The majority had < 12 faculty listed (n=54, 59.3%). For programs with 12+ faculty, 68.8% (n=11/16) demonstrated 6+ diversity elements. Faculty photos, fellow photos, and diversity publications were the most common (92.4%, 68.1%, 49.5% respectively). Mean rate of URIM was 18.8% ± 11.3 and no significant associations were noted. There was a trend for more diversity elements in the Western United States, with a mean of 5.3 ± 2.2, compared to 3.7 ± 2.0 in the South (p=0.24, see Figure). Fellowship websites convey information for trainees, especially in an era of virtual recruitment. This study highlights opportunities for directed improvements to increase recruitment of URIM.