SAN DIEGO – Expanding the staff and scope of its Multicultural Affairs Office over the last 4 years helped increase the numbers of African American, Native American, and Hispanic medical residents who opted to train at Boston's Massachusetts General Hospital, said Elena B. Olson, the office's administrative director.
Founded in 1992 to increase diversity specifically in the department of medicine, the office expanded to eight employees (many of them part time) in 2000 to collaborate with all 20 residency programs at the hospital in recruiting, retaining, and advancing underrepresented minorities at the hospital.
“It appears that we are one of the few hospitals that actually do this,” Ms. Olson said. Massachusetts General competes with other hospitals in the Harvard University system for residency applicants.
Ms. Olson and Dr. Ronald Dixon, the office's manager of trainee affairs, hope that the hospital's model can be used by other institutions to increase the number of physicians from underrepresented minority groups.
They presented the first public description of the program at the annual meeting of the National Medical Association.
Data on residency matches collected by the office since 2001 show that the annual percentage of underrepresented minorities who match with residency programs at the hospital has improved to 10%, which parallels the proportion of underrepresented minorities in medical schools. In 2002, the office helped match residents to programs at the hospital that traditionally had failed to attract underrepresented minorities–such as all the surgical services, she said.
The “ranking match rates”–the number of medical students ranked high on the hospital's match list that chose to come to Massachusetts General–improved in the last few years as well.
In 2001, the hospital ranked 62 underrepresented minority applicants for acceptance, and the rankings of 21 of these students matched them with residency programs there.
In 2002, 33 of 62 underrepresented minorities matched with the hospital. In 2003, 21 of 51 matched. And in 2004, 26 of 62 underrepresented minorities matched with the hospital's training programs. “Our recruitment efforts were paying off,” she said.
The rank-to-match ratio was higher for underrepresented minorities, compared with residency applicants overall. In 2003, 41% of underrepresented minorities and 34% of applicants overall matched with the hospital. In 2004, 42% of underrepresented minorities and 36% of applicants overall matched with the hospital.
The office offers the hospital's 20 residency program directors two levels of assistance. First, an introductory letter invites applicants to consider training there and gives them contact information for staff and current minority residents. Beyond that, the office can arrange informal meetings, provide funds for applicants to visit the hospital, and make some follow-up contacts.
The office also coordinates an 8-week summer research trainee program for minority college students to encourage them to pursue careers in medicine. Strengthening the pipeline of students “is crucial to building a robust resident pool,” she said.