Modest Increases in Minority Faculty Seen at Med Schools

Only the most robust minority faculty development programs increase representation

TUESDAY, Dec. 3, 2013 (HealthDay News) -- Underrepresented minority faculty made only modest gains in increasing their presence at U.S. medical schools from 2000 to 2010, according to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, a theme issue on medical education.

James P. Guevara, M.D., M.P.H., from the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia in Pennsylvania, and colleagues conducted secondary analysis of the Association of American Medical Colleges Faculty Roster database to evaluate the percentage of underrepresented minority faculty (black, Hispanic, Native American, Alaskan Native, Native Hawaiian, or Pacific Islander) at U.S. medical schools.

The researchers found that the percentage of underrepresented minority faculty increased from 6.8 percent in 2000 to 8.0 percent in 2010, across all schools. Twenty-nine percent of 124 eligible schools had a minority faculty development program in 2010. Minority faculty development programs were not associated with greater representation of minority faculty (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 0.99; 95 percent confidence interval [CI], 0.81 to 1.22), recruitment (aOR, 0.97; 95 percent CI, 0.83 to 1.15), or promotion (aOR, 1.08; 95 percent CI, 0.91 to 1.30), when adjusting for faculty and school characteristics. However, more intense development programs (present for at least five years and with more components) were associated with greater increases in underrepresented minority representation, compared to schools with less intense minority faculty development programs.

"The percentage of underrepresented minority faculty increased modestly from 2000 to 2010 at U.S. medical schools," the authors conclude.

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