From the April 2022 issue of HealthCare Business News magazine
By Dr. Hirschel McGinnis
American culture seems to be situated at a metaphorical crossroad. Opportunities and achievements by women, underrepresented minorities (URM) and sexual and gender minorities (SGM) have never been greater. Despite these accomplishments, profound disparities abound. Such differences in medicine have been described and quantified for many years, but it seems recently we’ve reached a flashpoint of action. No longer willing to just observe these inequities with dismay and pity, a groundswell of efforts has emerged striving to dismantle the status quo regarding workforce and patient-care disparities. This is no small matter. Every aspect of medical care is being examined to ensure our patients and colleagues are treated with fairness and equity.
A dedicated group of interventional radiologists from across the country is helping to reshape the culture of IR by cultivating the principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion throughout the specialty. In order to realize the full talents of medical school graduates and diminish patient care disparities, medical specialties should be striving to become more inclusive and supportive of women, underrepresented minorities, and sexual and gender minorities. This endeavor demands action from leadership, practitioners, and industry partners in order to create durable change.
Interventional radiology’s progress in DEI
The field of interventional radiology (IR) is a highly innovative and forward-looking specialty, offering patients minimally invasive treatments that promote shorter recovery times as well as reduced morbidity and complications. Through tireless innovation and a strong commitment to excellence in value-oriented patient care, IR has made significant contributions to improved patient outcomes. While IR has proved to be a highly sought specialty, it has not captured the full potential of nascent talent graduating from medical schools, especially among women, URMs, and SGMs. Comprehensive data is not available, but allowing for intersectionality, approximately 65% of graduating medical students are either women (50%), URMs (16%), or SGMs (9%), yet most of these graduates are not entering careers in the procedural disciplines, including IR.
The current IR workforce is lagging in representation for these groups, with women constituting just 8.2% of practicing IR’s, URMs constituting about 2% of academic IRs, and SGM physicians not being tracked at all outside of medical school. While studies show that all three groups are increasing in medical school representation, there is still a way to go before those changes will be realized in the community of practicing physicians.
