Improving Racial Diversity in the Ophthalmology Workforce: A Call to Action for Leaders in Ophthalmology

Ophthalmology Departments Remain Among the Least Diverse Clinical Departments at United States Medical Schools

“…30 Additional programs from the National Medical Association, such as the long-standing Rabb-Venable Excellence in Ophthalmology Research program, founded in 2000, also have served an important role in nurturing URM trainees. Beyond mentoring URM trainees, Aguwa et al 31 further outlined efforts that must be made at all levels to diversify the ophthalmology workforce, ranging from unbiased promotion practices, cultural competency training, and involving more URM faculty in the medical school and residency application processes. Efforts to increase diversity should be collaborative between both minorityspecific organizations and larger organizations, which should make strong commitments to increasing diversity.…”

Income Disparities in Outcomes of Horizontal Strabismus Surgery in a Pediatric Population

“…We must also address the role of implicit bias and systemic racism, because racial disparities in health care have been shown to persist even after adjusting for other social determinants of health. 37 , 38 Research has shown that implicit racial bias (unconscious racial attitudes and stereotypes) is associated with decreased trust and satisfaction in patients from underrepresented racial and ethnic minority groups and therefore lower adherence, health care utilization, and health outcomes. 39 – 43 Increasing physician diversity is an important component of remedying this, because patient-physician race concordance is associated with improved trust, communication, patient ratings of care, and adherence.…”

“… 39 – 43 Increasing physician diversity is an important component of remedying this, because patient-physician race concordance is associated with improved trust, communication, patient ratings of care, and adherence. 24 , 38 , 44 , 45 This is particularly relevant within ophthalmology, where 6% to 7.7% of ophthalmologists are from underrepresented racial and ethnic minority groups, compared to the 11.2% of all practicing physicians and 33% of the general population of the United States. 38 , 46 Additionally, studies have proposed numerous ways in which all physicians can improve the trust and adherence of patients from underrpresented racial and ethnic minority groups, including values affirmation, culturally respectful, and personally tailored communication skills training, and exercises to enhance the sense of commonality between patient and physician.…”

“… 24 , 38 , 44 , 45 This is particularly relevant within ophthalmology, where 6% to 7.7% of ophthalmologists are from underrepresented racial and ethnic minority groups, compared to the 11.2% of all practicing physicians and 33% of the general population of the United States. 38 , 46 Additionally, studies have proposed numerous ways in which all physicians can improve the trust and adherence of patients from underrpresented racial and ethnic minority groups, including values affirmation, culturally respectful, and personally tailored communication skills training, and exercises to enhance the sense of commonality between patient and physician. 43 , 47 , 48 Future directions may include qualitative assessments to understand which barriers affect our specific patient population and further studies to implement and evaluate the interventions discussed previously.…”

Strategies to Increase Underrepresented Minority Trainees in the Ophthalmology Pipeline: Perspective From a Large Retina Research Laboratory

“…Leaders have been called on to address the gap in URM representation between the ophthalmology workforce and the population it serves. 10 We echo this call to action and offer targeted, actionable strategies to improve URM representation in the ophthalmology pipeline.…”