An Assessment of Diversity, Inclusion, and Health Equity Training in Endocrinology Fellowship Programs in the United States

Context: The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education has instituted common program requirements related to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) for postgraduate trainees in the United States; however, the extent to which DEI training is being incorporated across endocrinology fellowship programs is unknown. Objectives: To describe the sociodemographic representation and DEI training experiences within endocrinology fellowship programs. Design, setting, and participants: National cross-sectional survey study of fellows and fellowship program leaders in the United States whose fellowships were members of the Association of Program Directors in Endocrinology and Metabolism. Main outcome measures: (1) Demographics of fellows and program leaders and (2) programs’ experience, confidence, and interest in formal DEI training. Results: A total of 108 and 106 fellow and faculty responded to the survey, respectively. The majority of fellows and faculty are female. Less than 3% of fellows and 3.7% of faculty identify as Black. More than 90% of fellows/faculty are heterosexual and no respondents identified as transgender/nonbinary; however, 5% and 2% of all respondents preferred not to disclose their sexual orientation and gender identity, respectively. While 85% of faculty received institutional diversity and inclusion training, 67.6% of fellows did. Fellows are more likely to have received training in health equity than program leaders. Both fellows and program leaders express a high interest in health equity curriculum. Conclusions: Within the diversity of endocrinology training programs, Black physicians are underrepresented in medicine, which persists in endocrinology fellowships. Fellowship programs express enthusiasm for national diversity and health equity curricula, with the majority of programs reporting institutional DEI training.