A national survey of diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts in general surgery residency programs

The recent impetus towards diversifying the surgical workforce has resulted in efforts to develop and implement diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) resources and initiatives by surgical departments. This survey study sought to evaluate the current state of resident-focused DEI resources in general surgery (GS) residency programs in the United States (US).

An electronic 33-item survey, developed by members of the Association for Surgical Education DEI Committee, was distributed to 330 program directors of GS residency programs through the Association of Program Directors in Surgery distribution list. The survey collected information on program characteristics, resident demographics, and resident-focused DEI resources.

Forty-four (13.33%) program directors responded. Most participating programs in the study were university affiliated (n = 20; 45.45%) hospitals. The most common type of resident-focused DEI effort was an established system to respond to bias incidents (n = 43; 97.73%), followed by displaying diversity in the department (n = 40; 90.91%), and infrastructural DEI support (n = 38; 86.36%). The least common types of efforts were promoting trainees under-represented in medicine (URiM) to participate in national surgical societies (n = 21; 47.73%) and having specific mentorship of URiM trainees (n = 16; 36.36%).

This study is the first to conduct a national characterization of resident-focused DEI resources in GS residency programs in the US. There is notable variability in the type of resources hosted and initiatives pursued. Further efforts are required to develop and communicate a set of standard recommendations for DEI resources and initiatives without compromising residency programs’ ability to tailor efforts specific to their trainees.