Journal Article

A cross-sectional study of diversity in regional anesthesia and acute pain medicine fellowships

Zhong, Haoyan, Pulos, Bridget, Mehta, Shivani, Jain, Niyant, Joseph, Raymond S., Hargett, Mary J., Kalsi, Mandip S., Lauzadis, Justas, Gabriel, Rodney, Umeh, Uchenna O., Tailor, Maya, Pai, Poonam, Rosenblatt, Meg A.

2025

Overview

The number of underrepresented in medicine (URiM) physicians is disproportionately low compared with the general population. Patient-physician racial concordance may increase patient satisfaction and therapeutic adherence. In this study, we evaluated diversity within 2023-2024 regional anesthesia and acute pain medicine (RA/APM) fellowship programs and discuss methods to increase diversity and inclusion. The Hospital for Special Surgery Institutional Review Board (IRB no. 2023-1862) approved this cross-sectional survey study. We distributed a questionnaire to RA/APM fellowship directors (FDs) on 2 October 2023 and present responses as counts and percentages or medians and interquartile ranges. We sent questionnaires to 84 FDs with 44 responses (52%)-39 from the USA and five from Canada. Overall, 4/44 (9%) FDs identified as URiM. Many FDs reported no URiM (57%) or lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, asexual, or other (LGBTQIA +) fellows (50%). We observed no differences regarding gender identity, with 46% cisgender female FDs and 46% female fellows reported. While 35 (80%) FDs considered themselves successful at having a diverse program, 27 (61%) reported no outreach programs targeted to underrepresented groups. Thirty-two (73%) programs reported Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education accreditation and 33 (75%) reported participation in the 2023 San Francisco Residency and Fellowship Match. Organizational diversity offers several advantages; however, there is a discrepancy between the diversity of RA/APM FDs and fellows compared with the general US and Canadian population. Methods to further increase URiM representation at the trainee and FD levels should be further explored.

• Publisher: Springer Nature B.V
• Subject: Accreditation / Acute Pain - therapy / Anesthesia, Conduction - statistics & numerical data / Anesthesiology - education / Canada / Cross-Sectional Studies / Cultural Diversity / Fellowships and Scholarships - statistics & numerical data / Female / Humans / Inclusion / Male / Medical education / Multiculturalism & pluralism / Patient satisfaction / Physicians - statistics & numerical data / Questionnaires / Regional anesthesia / Scholarships & fellowships / Surveys and Questionnaires / United States