Racial, Ethnic Minorities Still Underrepresented in Internal Medicine Residency Programs

Follow Drugslib on

Medically reviewed by Carmen Pope, BPharm. Last updated on Feb 5, 2025.

By Lori Solomon HealthDay Reporter

TUESDAY, Feb. 4, 2025 -- U.S. internal medicine (IM) residents from ethnicities and races underrepresented in medicine (URIM) remain underrepresented compared with their program's county population, according to a study published online Jan. 30 in JAMA Network Open.

Jung G. Kim, Ph.D., M.P.H., from New York University Langone Health in New York City, and colleagues explored county-level racial and ethnic representation of U.S. IM residents and examined racial and ethnic concordance between residents and their communities in a retrospective cross-sectional study. The analysis included data from 4,848 IM residents (15.7 percent classified as URIM) training across 205 counties.

The researchers found that among URIM groups, American Indian and Alaska Native (mean representation quotients [RQ], 0.00), Black (mean RQ, 0.09), Hispanic and Latinx (mean RQ, 0.00), and Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander (mean RQ, 0.00) residents were grossly underrepresented versus their training sites’ county-level representation. One quarter of counties (24.8 percent) with IM programs had no URIM residents. In counties with more minority-serving institutions, Black and Hispanic or Latinx residents had higher representation (mean RQ, 0.19). In counties with more academic health centers, Hispanic or Latinx residents were less represented (mean RQ, 0.00). In counties with more minority-serving institutions, Asian residents had lower RQs (mean RQ, 6.00). White residents had higher representation in counties with greater presence of academic health centers (mean RQ, 0.77).

"These findings should inform racial and ethnic diversity policies to address the continuing underrepresentation among graduate medical education physicians, which adversely impacts the care of historically underserved communities," the authors write.

Abstract/Full Text

Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.

Source: HealthDay

Posted : 2025-02-06 00:00

Read more

Disclaimer

Every effort has been made to ensure that the information provided by Drugslib.com is accurate, up-to-date, and complete, but no guarantee is made to that effect. Drug information contained herein may be time sensitive. Drugslib.com information has been compiled for use by healthcare practitioners and consumers in the United States and therefore Drugslib.com does not warrant that uses outside of the United States are appropriate, unless specifically indicated otherwise. Drugslib.com's drug information does not endorse drugs, diagnose patients or recommend therapy. Drugslib.com's drug information is an informational resource designed to assist licensed healthcare practitioners in caring for their patients and/or to serve consumers viewing this service as a supplement to, and not a substitute for, the expertise, skill, knowledge and judgment of healthcare practitioners.

The absence of a warning for a given drug or drug combination in no way should be construed to indicate that the drug or drug combination is safe, effective or appropriate for any given patient. Drugslib.com does not assume any responsibility for any aspect of healthcare administered with the aid of information Drugslib.com provides. The information contained herein is not intended to cover all possible uses, directions, precautions, warnings, drug interactions, allergic reactions, or adverse effects. If you have questions about the drugs you are taking, check with your doctor, nurse or pharmacist.

Popular Keywords