Journal Article

Bridging the representation gap in the surgical workforce: a scoping review protocol of programmes and interventions to support surgical careers for underrepresented minority learners

Ayoo, Kennedy, Qureshi, Aljeena R, Covelli, Andrea, Malhotra, Armaan K, Halabian, Negeen, Bhatt, Vidhi, Nguyen, David-Dan, Majeed, Meerab, Alam, Armaghan, Yibrehu, Betel, Anifowose, Ajibola, Bondzi-Simpson, Adom, Brar, Savtaj

2025

Overview

IntroductionDespite increasing proportions of underrepresented minority (URM) medical school graduates, their progression into surgical training and leadership remains disproportionately low. Barriers such as financial constraints, limited mentorship and implicit bias contribute to this disparity, creating a disconnect between the diversity of patient populations and those providing care. While interventions such as mentorship programmes and pipeline initiatives have been implemented, their overall effectiveness has not been systematically evaluated. The primary aim of this scoping review is to map the current landscape of interventions, programmes and policies designed to enhance access to surgical careers for URM learners.Methods and analysisSearches will be conducted on EMBASE, Web of Science and OVID MEDLINE. Three independent reviewers will screen references, extract data and perform analyses with disagreements adjudicated by a fourth reviewer. This review will include studies conducted across all levels of training: secondary (high school or secondary school), postsecondary (undergraduate, medical school) and postgraduate (residency, fellowship), with no geographical restrictions. The definition of URM will be accepted as reported within each individual study, allowing for variability in racial, ethnic, gender, socioeconomic or other criteria. The review will include any structured interventions, programmes or policies aimed at increasing URM representation in surgical education. Data on the nature, duration and target population of each intervention will be extracted. The primary outcome will be the reported impact of interventions on URM representation or participation in surgical education. Secondary outcomes will include characteristics of the study participants, definitions of URM status and any qualitative or quantitative evaluations of intervention effectiveness.Ethics and disseminationResearch ethics approval is not required under University of Toronto policy. Study results will be reported according to Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews guidelines. Results will be disseminated to relevant stakeholders at conference presentation(s) and submitted for publication in a peer-reviewed journal.

• Publisher: British Medical Journal Publishing Group,BMJ Publishing Group LTD,BMJ Publishing Group
• Subject: Career Choice / Careers / Curricula / Education / Ethnicity / Focus groups / General Surgery - education / Health disparities / Health Equity / Humans / Inclusion / Intervention / MEDICAL EDUCATION & TRAINING / Medical residencies / Medical students / Mentors / Minority & ethnic groups / Minority Groups - education / Minority Groups - statistics & numerical data / Multiculturalism & pluralism / Non-binary gender / Protocol / Race / Research Design / Schools, Medical / Scoping Review as Topic / Secondary school students / Secondary schools / Sexual and Gender Minorities / Socioeconomic factors / Student retention / Surgery / Workforce / Workplace diversity