Underrepresentation of Underrepresented Minorities in Academic Medicine: The Need to Enhance the Pipeline and the Pipe Juanita L. Merchant, M. Bishr Omary Gastroenterology Volume 138, Issue 1, Pages 19-26.e3 (January 2010) DOI: 10.1053/j.gastro.2009.11.017 Copyright © 2010 AGA Institute Terms and Conditions
Figure 1 US census data and distribution of matriculated medical students, gastroenterology and total physician trainees among US ethnic and race backgrounds. (A) The distribution of the different US subpopulations based on the 2000 US latest official census and the estimated 2008 US census24 (rounded off to the nearest million) is shown. The population total also includes the categories of Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander and those with ≥2 races that are not included in the race/ethnic background analysis. The Hispanic (Latino) designation includes Mexican American, Other Hispanic, Cuban, Puerto Rican, and Multiple Hispanic. The US Census Bureau defines 5 categories of race (white, black or African American, American Indian and Alaskan native, Asian, and native Hawaiian/other Pacific Islander) and 2 categories of ethnic background (Hispanic/Latino and non-Hispanic/Latino).25 NANA, Native American, Native Alaskan; NHOPI, Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander. (B) Details of the numbers used to generate the graph are shown in Supplemental Table 1. The numbers were collected from the 2008–2009 graduate medical education data.15 Gastroenterology 2010 138, 19-26.e3DOI: (10.1053/j.gastro.2009.11.017) Copyright © 2010 AGA Institute Terms and Conditions
Figure 2 Faculty ethnicity and race distribution in the United States. Details of the numbers used to generate the graph are shown in Supplemental Table 1, and represent the numbers for 1980, 1990, 2000, 2003, 2005, and 2008 for the sum of all faculty (professors, associate professors, assistant professors, and instructors). The data were collected from AAMC Faculty Roster3 and publications.26 Gastroenterology 2010 138, 19-26.e3DOI: (10.1053/j.gastro.2009.11.017) Copyright © 2010 AGA Institute Terms and Conditions
Figure 3 Faculty rank distribution as related to ethnicity and race. Details of the numbers used to generate the graph are shown in Supplemental Table 1 and correspond to AAMC Faculty Roster3 and publications for 2008.26 Within the Hispanic group of 5,048 total faculty in 2008, the subgroup percentages are 1.2% Cuban, 13% Mexican, 18.3% Puerto Rican, and 67.5% other Hispanic. In terms of the latest official US census for 2000, the distribution of the 35.3 million Hispanics is 3.2% Cuban, 58.4% Mexican, 9.6% Puerto Rican, and 28.8% other Hispanic.24 Gastroenterology 2010 138, 19-26.e3DOI: (10.1053/j.gastro.2009.11.017) Copyright © 2010 AGA Institute Terms and Conditions
Figure 4 Distribution of female and male faculty by rank and ethnicity/race. Details of the numbers used to generate the graphs are shown in Supplemental Tables 2 (for panel A) and 3 (for panel B, year 2008). (A) Percent female faculty for each of the race/ethnic backgrounds. The data were obtained from the AAMC Faculty Roster and excludes faculty with missing gender data.3,7 NANA corresponds to Native American, Native Alaskan; and NHOPI represents Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander. Gastroenterology 2010 138, 19-26.e3DOI: (10.1053/j.gastro.2009.11.017) Copyright © 2010 AGA Institute Terms and Conditions
Figure 5 Two major goals are required to address underrepresentation of URMs in academic medicine. Two areas need to be addressed in order to enhance the number of URM academic physicians and biomedical scientists. First is to increase the pool of URMs who pursue health-related sciences by attracting graduate/medical, undergraduate and high school students. Second is to develop strategies to retain junior trainees and faculty members. Gastroenterology 2010 138, 19-26.e3DOI: (10.1053/j.gastro.2009.11.017) Copyright © 2010 AGA Institute Terms and Conditions