Current diversity in orthopaedics - Issues of race, ethnicity, and gender

The size and diversity of the United States orthopaedic workforce continues to interest academic graduate medical education analysts. Numerous medical groups have expressed the need for diversity in orthopaedics and in general medicine. The Association of American Medical Colleges has had two policies since the early 1970s concerning minorities in medicine. It was thought that special attention should be given to minority groups underrepresented in medicine and that the minority groups should be represented in medicine in the same proportion as in the population as a whole. The purpose of this paper was to examine the selection of orthopaedic residents during the past 12 years based on the candidates documented race, ethnicity, and gender. The diversity of orthopaedic residents changed minimally during the period of the study. The percentage of African American, Hispanic, Native American, Puerto Rican, and Mexican American orthopaedic residents essentially has remained unchanged. The percentage of Asian and Pacific Islander women has remained unchanged whereas the percentage of Asian and Pacific Islander men has quadrupled (2.2% in 1983 to 9.8% in 1995) during the 12 years of the study. The percentage of white women has remained virtually unchanged whereas that of white men has declined in direct relation to the increase in Asian or Pacific Islander men.