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Diversity in Cardiovascular Training Programs
Quick Takes
- CVD program directors (PDs) recognize diversity as an important issue in cardiology and strive to do so in their own program.
- The majority of PDs have used specific strategies to increase diversity in the recruitment of fellows, but some do not currently have a specific plan to do so.
- There is a compelling need for CVD as a field to attract a more diverse applicant pool with standardized strategies and national resources to support PDs in these efforts.
Study Questions:
What are the characteristics of the cardiovascular disease (CVD) learning environment that may affect diversity and the strategies program directors (PDs) use to approach these issues?
Methods:
The American College of Cardiology (ACC) Cardiovascular Program Directors and Graduate Medical Educators Section administered the second annual Cardiovascular PD Survey in 2019. This survey aimed to understand CVD PD perceptions of diversity, barriers to diversity, and solutions to overcome these barriers in CVD training. The survey contained 20 questions examining US-based CVD PD perceptions of diversity in CVD and related characteristics of the CVD fellowship learning environment.
Results:
In total, 58% of PDs completed the survey. Responding programs demonstrated geographic diversity. The majority were university-based or -affiliated. A total of 86% of PDs felt diversity in CVD as a field needs to increase, and 70% agreed that training programs could play a significant role in this. In total, 89% of PDs have attempted to increase diversity in fellowship recruitment. The specific strategies used were associated with PD sex and the presence of under-represented minority trainees in the program. PDs identified lack of qualified candidates and overall culture of cardiology as the two most significant barriers to augmenting diversity. A majority of programs have support systems in place for minority fellows or specific gender groups, including procedures to report issues of harassment or an unsafe learning environment. PDs identified shared best practices for recruitment and implicit bias training, among others, as important resources in their efforts to support diversity in CVD training.
Conclusions:
The authors concluded that PDs are striving to increase diversity in their programs through recruitment and strategies directed toward the fellowship learning environment.
Perspective:
This survey study reports that CVD PDs recognize diversity as an important issue in cardiology and feel that training programs can contribute to efforts to increase diversity and strive to do so in their own program. The majority of PDs have used specific strategies to increase diversity in the recruitment of fellows, but some do not currently have a specific plan to do so. There is a compelling need for CVD as a field to attract a more diverse applicant pool and improve awareness of CVD and its subspecialties as fields that welcome talented physicians regardless of individual background with standardized strategies and national resources to support PDs in these efforts.
Clinical Topics: Prevention
Keywords: Cardiology, Cardiovascular Diseases, Cultural Diversity, Education, Medical, Graduate, Ethnic Groups, Fellowships and Scholarships, Health Resources, Secondary Prevention, Training Support, Universities
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