Diversity of Leadership and its Influence on Diversity of Integrated Plastic Surgery Residency Cohorts: A Study in the Virtual Era
David Benaroch*, Olachi Oleru, Nargiz Seyidova, Alice Yao
Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY
In the aftermath of COVID-19, the residency application process has largely remained in the virtual space, introducing a new challenge to prospective integrated plastic surgery residents. Many programs enhanced their online presence to address this challenge, but both programs and applicants are still limited to a virtual snapshot when determining "fit". An important influence of "fit" is the ability to racially, ethnically, and/or culturally identify with the program. The aims of this study are (1) to better understand the online information that residency programs are making available to prospective applicants and to (2) characterize racial diversity of integrated plastic surgery program directors and investigate its influence on the corresponding residency cohorts.
A cross-sectional study of U.S. integrated plastic surgery residency programs was performed in August 2022. Data on race and ethnicity were collected for residency program directors and resident cohorts by photometric analysis of online material. Relationships between these groups were analyzed. Available demographic data was also collected from the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) for comparison and validation.
Racial/ethnic data were collected on 82 program directors and 1,174 residents. This data closely matched the AAMC data on race/ethnicity in plastic surgery programs. The smallest percentage of resident groups are Black/African Americans (3.39%) and Hispanic (4.17%). The highest proportions of residents in each group studied correlated to a program director of the same race/ethnicity. Of the programs with a White program director, 69.6% of the residents were White, higher than in programs with program directors of any other race. This pattern followed for all of the groups studied. Interestingly, White (49.3%) and Black/African American (2.7%) residents were the least represented in programs with a Central Asian program director.
Online information about residency programs is robust. The diversity of a residency cohort is positively associated with diversity of program directors.
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