ABSTRACT
CONTEXT: A diverse workforce has been shown to improve productivity and innovation. The level of diversity among pathology residency applicants has not previously been reported. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to characterize the applicants at an academic pathology department to gain a better understanding of diversity among them. DESIGN: Between 2015 and 2017, data from a tertiary care center were analyzed for gender, US and international medical school, USMLE scores, and self-identified racial or ethnic group. For 2017, data was compared to that published by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC). RESULTS: There were 1293 pathology applicants with 48-49% being female. The overall underrepresented minority (URM) applicant pool in pathology represented 12.6%, 9.5%, and 11.1% of our applicants for 2015, 2016, and 2017, respectively. URMs from US medical schools alone represented 4.7%, 3.7%, and 4.5% of our applicants for 2015, 2016, and 2017, respectively. The percentage of 2017 US medical school graduates applying to any US pathology training program was 22.2% versus 38.7% applying to pathology at our center (pâ¯≤0.001). URM applicants for pathology from US medical schools were significantly lower than URM applicants to all AAMC medical specialties (pâ¯=â¯0.035). Among our pathology applicants in 2017, USMLE I scores and number of applicants with any publications were higher for non-URMs compared to URMs (pâ¯=â¯0.048 and pâ¯=â¯0.046, respectively). CONCLUSION: No significant difference related to gender was identified among our applicants while racial/ethnic groups remain underrepresented with significantly fewer URM applicants from US medical schools compared to published AAMC data for all medical specialties.
