Enhancing Inclusive Excellence in Academic Plastic Surgery Leadership

Though diversity, equity, and inclusion have been recent areas of focus within plastic and reconstructive surgery, the cohort of residents and academic plastic surgeons remains unchanged.

Healthcare disparities persist within plastic and reconstructive surgery. The positive impact of diverse physicians on health outcomes has been well documented. Various approaches to increase the diversity of our healthcare workforce have been described, including pipeline programs at the pre-medical and medical student level, and adopting holistic review principles to the resident selection process. Focused efforts within the field of plastic and reconstructive surgery, although scarce in the literature, have revealed early evidence of success.

Increasing diversity within plastic and reconstructive surgery requires a systematic approach and future efforts should be directed not only at the medical student and resident level, but with intentional focus at the level of academic leadership.