Gender, racial, and ethnic disparities persist in academic emergency medicine

Gender, racial, and ethnic disparities, with regard to academic rank and compensation, continue to exist among academic emergency medicine physicians in spite of a move by leading organizations of emergency medicine to prioritize increasing diversity. That is the primary finding of a study to be published in the October 2017 issue of Academic Emergency Medicine (AEM), a journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine (SAEM).

The lead author of the study is Tracy E. Madsen, MD, ScM, an assistant professor of emergency medicine in the Division of Sex and Gender in Emergency Medicine within the Department of Emergency Medicine, Alpert Medical School of Brown University.

The study by Madsen, et al, found that women earned less than men regardless of rank, clinical hours, or training and that failure to advance or to receive promotion to leadership roles may be a be a factor in why women leave careers in academic medicine. The study proposes that future research is needed to delineate the issues of retention and advancement.

Additionally, the study found that underrepresented minorities (URM) comprise a small proportion of the academic medicine workforce and are less likely to hold senior positions, and are less likely to be promoted at all levels, regardless of gender, tenure status, degree, or NIH award status.

The study proposes that further research is needed to identify additional strategies to eliminate disparities and match the mission of ensuring inclusion, diversity, and equality in academic emergency medicine.

"This study again highlights the necessity for bold interventions and solutions.  Expecting changes using the same strategies will only ensure the existing inequities," said Gail D'Onofrio, MD, professor and chair in the department of emergency medicine at Yale University School of Medicine.