Inclusion and Representation in the Pediatric Surgery Workforce: Strategies to Mitigate Bias in the Fellowship Application Process
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Read the article on jpedsurg.org ↗Article · Jan 2022 · 1 min read
In brief
In brief
APSTPD position statement providing evidence-based strategies to reduce bias in pediatric surgery fellowship selection, addressing workforce diversity gaps where 70% of practitioners are white despite serving diverse patient populations. Offers actionable recommendations across all recruitment phases to support underrepresented applicants.
Written by the GCMD Library team from the article.
Diverse perspectives are critical components of effective teams in every industry. Underrepresentation of minorities in medicine leads to worse outcomes for minority patients, and efforts to increase diversity in the health care workforce are critical. Presently, about 70% of the pediatric surgery workforce is white, and pediatric surgeons at large do not reflect the racial or ethnic diversity of the populations they serve. Pediatric surgery fellowship training programs are the gateway to the field, and fellow selection processes should be optimized to support diversity and inclusion. The Association of Pediatric Surgery Training Program Directors (APSTPD) Diversity Equity and Inclusion subcommittee compiled best practices for bias mitigation during fellow selection, drawing from published literature and personal experiences in our own programs. A list of concrete recommendations was compiled, which can be implemented in every phase from applicant screening to rank list creation. We present these as a position statement that has been endorsed by the executive committee of the APSTPD. Pediatric surgery fellowship programs can utilize this focused review of best practices to mitigate bias and support diverse applicants.