P0663 - A Systematic Approach to Improving Diversity in the Pediatrics Residency Program

Enhancing diversity and inclusion in the physician workforce is of the utmost importance to ensure that providers reflect the diverse patient population in their communities. The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) requires that medical training institutions engage in practices that focus on mission-driven, ongoing, systematic recruitment and retention of a diverse and inclusive workforce of trainees. In accordance with these requirements, the Pediatrics Department’s Diversity Committee at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) created a Five-Year Diversity Plan in 2018. The committee’s mission is to foster a culture that values individuals with diverse ideas and backgrounds working together, leading to improved health for South Carolina’s children. Current medical literature offers few reports on efforts to diversify residency programs. Therefore, our goal was to create a model to enhance recruitment and retention of diverse applicants in the MUSC Pediatrics Residency Program.

The Diversity Committee (comprised of pediatric faculty, residents, fellows, and staff) analyzed baseline descriptive data of under-represented in medicine (URM) applicants who were interviewed, ranked to match, and ultimately matched in the intern class of 2017-2018. To better understand diversity and inclusion challenges specific to our program, a needs assessment was created using several measures. Current pediatric residents completed a survey to assess perceptions on diversity and inclusion within the department. In addition, a monthly “Dinner and Conversation” event for Black faculty and residents was generated to foster community within the program and to formulate strategies to improve recruitment of URM candidates.

As a result of these initiatives, the committee developed recruitment strategies focused on raising 2019-2020 URM pediatric residency candidates’ awareness of diversity and inclusion endeavors across the institution. These efforts included utilizing a standardized diversity presentation / discussion during the program overview, distributing handouts describing diversity activities to all resident applicants, and offering optional in-person meetings between URM applicants and members of the Diversity Committee during their visit at MUSC.

Twenty-two URM applicants were listed on the program’s 2019-2020 National Resident Matching Program rank list. As a result of the Diversity Committee’s recruitment efforts, URM interns in the Pediatrics Residency Program increased from ~6% in 2017 to ~38% in 2020 of total 16 matched interns.

While these results reflect a single interview season, the recruitment efforts of the MUSC Pediatrics Department Diversity Committee have been remarkably successful. Given the notable increase in the match rate of URM applicants into the Pediatric Residency Program, the Diversity Committee will look to fine tune these efforts in future years and leverage similar recruitment initiatives in other realms. Future directions include applying these successful recruitment strategies to other pediatric fellowship programs and GME programs across the institution, and adapting these diversity efforts to the recruitment of URM pediatric faculty.