Racial and Ethnic Disparities Among US Academic Dermatology Leadership and Its Influence on Resident Diversity

Background: Diversity in medicine improves mentorship and patient care. However, dermatology is one of the least diverse specialties. We analyzed the racial distributions across leadership positions at academic dermatology programs and explored potential influences on resident racial/ethnic composition. Methods: A list of ACGME-accredited dermatology programs was obtained. Residency program websites, hospital websites, and publicly available data were used to ascertain race and ethnicity of academic dermatology leadership and residents. SAS version 9.4 was used to calculate descriptive statistics and associations between racial/ethnic composition of dermatologists in leadership positions and residents. Results: Underrepresented in medicine (URM) individuals were significantly underrepresented across both leadership (6.9%) and resident (12.0%) positions. No statistically significant correlation was found between the percent of URM leadership and URM residents. Conclusion: Diversity among the US population, medical students, dermatology trainees, and faculty are not reflected in departmental leadership in academic dermatology. This may influence URM recruitment into the field, retention of URM faculty and residents, and mentorship opportunities for URM dermatologists interested in leadership positions. Efforts are needed to improve disparities in representation across leadership roles in academic dermatology.