National trends in distribution of underrepresented minorities within United States general surgery residency programs: A longitudinal panel study

Background: Cultural affinity with a provider improves satisfactoriness of healthcare. We examined 2005-2019 trends in racial/ethnic diversity/inclusion within general surgery residency programs. Methods: We triangulated 2005-2019 race/ethnicity data from Association of American Medical Colleges surveys of 4th-year medical students, the Electronic Residency Application Service, and Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education-affiliated general surgery residencies. Temporal trends in minority representation were tested for significance. Results: Underrepresented racial/ethnic minorities in medicine (URiMs) increased among graduating MDs from 7.6% in 2005 to 11.8% in 2019 (p < 0.0001), as did their proportion among surgery residency applicants during 2005-2019 (p < 0.0001). However, proportions of URiMs among general surgery residents (approximate to 8.5%), and of programs without URiMs (approximate to 18.8%), stagnated. Conclusions: Growing URiM proportions among medical school graduates and surgery residency applicants did not improve URiM representation among surgery trainees nor shrink the percentage of programs without URiMs. Deeper research into motivators underlying URiMs' residency program preferences is warranted.