title: The evolution of racial, ethnic, and gender diversity in US otolaryngology residency programs.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine the evolution of racial, ethnic, and gender diversity in US otolaryngology-head and neck surgery residency programs and compare these figures with other residency programs.
  
  
  METHODS
  Retrospective database review.
  
  
  METHODS
  US residency programs.
  
  
  METHODS
  Information concerning minority and female representation in US residency programs was obtained from annually published graduate medical education reports by the Journal of the American Medical Association from 1975 to 2010. Minority representation among US population and university students was obtained from the US Census Bureau. The racial, ethnic, and gender diversity of otolaryngology residents was then compared with other medical fields (general surgery, family medicine, and internal medicine).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Underrepresentation in otolaryngology-head and neck surgery is particularly disconcerting for African Americans (-2.3%/y, P = .09) and Native Americans (1.5%/y, P = .11) given their nonsignificant annual growth rates. Hispanic representation (17.3%/y, P < .0001) is growing in otolaryngology but is half the rate of growth of the Hispanic American population (32.8%/y, P < .0001). There is nonetheless promise for women (70.6%/y, P < .0001) and Asian Americans (63.0%/y, P < .0001), who demonstrated statistically significant growth trends.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  To our knowledge, this is the first study to describe the evolution of female and minority representation among US otolaryngology residents. Despite increasing gender, ethnic, and racial diversity among medical residents in general, female and certain minority group representation in US otolaryngology residency programs is lagging. These findings are in contrast to rising trends of diversity within other residency programs including general surgery.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, McGill University, Montreal, Canada. jsschwartz@gmail.com
authors.forename: Joseph S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Schwartz
authors.forename: Meredith
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Young
authors.forename: Ana M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Velly
authors.forename: Lily H P
authors.initials: LH
authors.lastname: Nguyen
mesh_terms: D018864:Cultural Diversity; D005006:Ethnicity / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007396:Internship and Residency / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008297:Male; D010036:Otolaryngology / Q000193:education / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D044469:Racial Groups / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012744:Sex Ratio; D013334:Students / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014481:United States
keywords: ethnic; minority representation; racial and gender diversity