Advancing Equity in Graduate Medical Education Recruitment Through a Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Toolkit for Program Directors

Zeina M Nabhan; Nicole Scott; Areeba Kara; Leilani Mullis; Travis Dams; Mark Giblin; Francesca Williamson; Curtis Wright

doi:10.1177/23821205231203136

Advancing Equity in Graduate Medical Education Recruitment Through a Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Toolkit for Program Directors

J Med Educ Curric Dev. 2023 Oct 9:10:23821205231203136. doi: 10.1177/23821205231203136. eCollection 2023 Jan-Dec.

Authors

Zeina M Nabhan¹, Nicole Scott², Areeba Kara³, Leilani Mullis⁴, Travis Dams⁵, Mark Giblin⁶, Francesca Williamson⁷, Curtis Wright⁸

Affiliations

¹ Associate Dean for Graduate Medical Education, Professor of Clinical Pediatrics, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA.
² Program Director of Obstetrics and Gynecology Residency, and Assistant Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA.
³ Division of General Internal Medicine and Geriatrics, Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA.
⁴ Department of Anesthesiology, Assistant Professor of Clinical Anesthesia, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA.
⁵ Family Medicine Residency, Adjunct Clinical Assistant Professor of Family Medicine, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA.
⁶ Process Improvement and Project Manager, Office of Graduate Medical Education, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA.
⁷ Education Specialist for Program Quality, Office of Graduate Medical Education, and Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA.
⁸ Associate Program Director, Internal Medicine Residency, Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA.

Abstract

Objectives: To increase diversity and inclusion in graduate medical education (GME), the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) issued new diversity standards requiring programs to engage in practices that focus on systematic recruitment and retention of a diverse workforce of trainees and faculty. The literature on how program directors (PDs) can incorporate and prepare for this standard is limited.

Methods: We developed a diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) toolkit for PDs as an example of an institutional GME-led effort to promote inclusive recruitment and DEI awareness among residency and fellowship programs at a large academic center.

Results: A survey was sent to 80 PDs before the launch of the toolkit and 6 months afterwards with response rates of 27% (22/80) and 97% (78/80), respectively. At baseline, 45% (10/22) anticipated that the DEI toolkit might provide better resources than those currently available to them and 41% (9/22) perceived that the toolkit might improve recruitment outcomes. At 6 months, 63% (49/78) found the toolkit helpful in the 2021-2022 recruitment season. By contrast, 2% (2/78) of PDs did not find the toolkit helpful, and 33% (26/78) said they did not access the toolkit. When asked if a PD changed their program's recruitment practices because of the toolkit, 31% (24/78) responded yes. Programs that changed recruitment practices started to require unconscious bias training for all faculty and residents involved in the residency interviews and ranking. Others worked on creating a standardized scoring rubric for interviews focused on four main domains: Experiences, Attributes, Competencies, and Academic Metrics.

Conclusion: There is a need to support PDs in their DEI journey and their work to recruit a diverse workforce in medicine. Utilizing a DEI toolkit is one option to increase DEI knowledge, skills, awareness, and self-efficacy among PDs and can be adopted by other institutions and leaders in academic medicine.

Keywords: DEI toolkit; diversity equity and inclusion; graduate medical education; holistic recruitment; program directors.