Female residents in emergency medicine who are also from underrepresented minorities score worse on performance assessments than their white male counterparts, according to a new study published in JAMA Network Open.
Investigators studied assessments of nearly 2700 emergency medicine residents and found disparities between female residents from groups underrepresented in medicine (URM). The disparities are considered discrimination, preventing minority trainees from advancing in their careers, study authors wrote.
The study highlights the need to address the "ongoing and pernicious problem of assessment bias in graduate medical education," said co-author Eric Holmboe, MD, an adjunct professor of medicine at Yale University.
The findings may explain why there are fewer women, people of color, and people from marginalized communities in leadership roles in medicine, said Diana Lautenberger, MA, director of Gender Equity Initiatives at the American Association of Medical Colleges (AAMC).
Conversations about bias often overlook how assessments impact residents' careers, she said. "We often think of ‘bias' interpersonally but pay less attention to evaluations. Yet the evaluation has a dramatic and profound impact on the progress of one's career."
Expanding on Past Research
Previous studies showed racial and gender disparities in standardized resident milestone assessments for internal medicine and emergency medicine, with female or URM residents "consistently rated as less skilled than their male and non-URM counterparts," study authors write.
