Trends in Resident Diversity for Vascular Surgery Relative to Other Specialties Over the Past Decade

Racial disparities in health care access and quality of care are well-documented, and these are especially pertinent to the vascular surgery patient population. Increasing diversity within vascular surgery trainees is paramount to ensuring a diverse workforce that can meet the needs of the growing patient population. The objective of this research is to assess trends in resident diversity among vascular surgery residents as compared to other specialties over the past decade. The American Association of Medical Colleges (AAMC) Graduate Medical Education (GME) Database was accessed for the academic years 2012-2013 and 2022-2023, and demographic information regarding racial and ethnic makeup of major medical specialty training programs was collected, categorized as White/Caucasian, Asian/Pacific Islander, Hispanic/Latino, Black, and Native American. Changes in diversity in vascular surgery residents over the past decade was compared to other residencies using χ2 analysis (P < .05). In 2023, vascular surgery residency programs ranked 14th of the 25 examined specialties in percent enrollment of White residents (51%), ninth in enrollment of Asian/Pacific Islander residents (27%), 10th in Hispanic/Latino residents (9.4%), eighth in Black residents (6.3%), and third in Native American residents (0.26%). Between 2012-2013 and 2022-2023, vascular surgery residencies accounted for the second-highest proportional increases in enrollment of Black (4.6%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (14.6%) residents. Upon χ2 analysis, vascular surgery residencies experienced significantly higher increases in enrollment of Asian (P = .0008 and P = .0014, respectively) and Black (P = .0016 and P = .007, respectively) residents as compared to both surgical and nonsurgical specialties as a whole. Vascular surgery residencies, however, did not significantly differ in regards to changes in White, Hispanic/Latino, and Native American enrollment as compared to surgical and nonsurgical specialties as a whole. Vascular surgery residencies ranked 9th, 10th, 8th, and 3rd in proportional enrollment of Asian/Pacific Islander, Hispanic/Latino, Black, and Native American residents, respectively, and were among the top specialties in regards to increase of both Black and Asian residents. Vascular surgery residencies were found to have experienced significantly higher enrolment increases in Asian and Black residents as compared to both surgical and nonsurgical residencies but did not differ in enrollment changes in other racial/ethnic enrollment categories. Limitations include inclusion of only four ethnic categories as well as limited insight into differences in diversity strategies between specialties. Future directions include efficacy analysis of specific efforts as pertains to increasing resident diversity as to best understand how to continue to diversify vascular surgery training programs. Fig 2View Large Image Figure ViewerDownload Hi-res image Download (PPT)