Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation

This chapter explores the current and historical diversity tends within the US physical medicine and rehabilitation (PM&R) physician workforce from 1970 to 2019. A literature search was performed regarding diversity in PM&R. Self-reported demographic data from 1970 to 2019 were obtained from online, publicly available sources. Descriptive statistics were then utilized to describe the trends by sex and ethnicity/race. Since 1970, female PM&R resident representation has been increasing at a rate of 0.2% per year; however, as of 2019, female PM&R residents (35.5%) continue to remain underrepresented compared to the total GME pool (45.8%) and US population (50.8%). Since 1995, the representation of PM&R residents underrepresented in medicine (URM) has gradually increased by 0.1% per year. As of 2019, PM&R residents identified as 7.4% Hispanic, 4.1% Black, and 0.1% American Indian/Alaskan Native/Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander (AI/AN/NH/PI). Among PM&R fellows, pediatrics had the greatest representation of females (71%) and URM (18.4%). In 2019, PM&R faculty consisted of 35.6% females which was similar to that of active physicians (35.8%), and 13.5% URM which is greater than that of active physicians (11.2%). Overall, within the PM&R, females and those racial and ethnically underrepresented in medicine (URM) have been historically and are currently underrepresented in the PM&R physician workforce. While there have been minor improvements in the numbers of females and URM PM&R physicians entering the workforce, more attention is needed to determine how to improve the recruitment and retention of these populations, so that the PM&R physician workforce may be representative of the diverse patient population they serve.