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. 2023 Jul 25;11(7):e5157.
doi: 10.1097/GOX.0000000000005157. eCollection 2023 Jul.

Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Selected Speakers at Plastic Surgery Conferences

Grace Ha  1 , Paige Benyamein  2 , Meera Reghunathan  2 , Sohrab Vatsia  1 , Jessica Blum  2 , Amanda A Gosman  2
Affiliations

Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Selected Speakers at Plastic Surgery Conferences

Grace Ha et al. Plast Reconstr Surg Glob Open. .

Abstract

Disparities in representation amongst academic physicians continue to persist at multiple levels, including the resident selection process and faculty career advancement. This study aimed to evaluate the racial and ethnic representation amongst plastic surgeons who are selected to speak at national and regional plastic surgery conferences.

Methods: The researchers evaluated selected speakers at 12 plastic surgery annual meetings over 7 years (2014-2020). Racial and ethnic distribution in selected speakers at conferences were compared with those of medical school graduates, plastic surgery residents, and practicing plastic surgeons.

Results: There were a total of 79 meetings, with 8931 total speaking opportunities and 1276 unique speakers. The percentage of individuals underrepresented in medicine (UIM) is 15.2% in matriculating medical students, 8.9% in active PRS residents, 8.3% in practicing PRS physicians, and 4.7% in invited conference speakers. Within racial/ethnic groups of invited speakers, there was no significant difference in either the average number of fellowships completed or average number of plastic surgery publications (P = 0.44 and 0.39, respectively). No individual UIM speaker had more than 20 speaking opportunities over these 7 years, compared with 17.0% in non-UIM speakers.

Conclusion: Given the results of the study, the researchers conclude that racial minorities are disproportionately underrepresented as selected speakers at plastic surgery conferences, despite similarities in qualifications such as fellowship training, publication number, and years since board certification.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no financial interest to declare in relation to the content of this article.

Figures

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.
Meetings for which conference agendas with speaker information were fully accessible.
Fig. 2.
Fig. 2.
Number and percentage of speaking opportunities by racial/ethnic category.
Fig. 3.
Fig. 3.
Distribution of race/ethnicity in select groups.
Fig. 4.
Fig. 4.
Average number of fellowships completed by invited speakers.
Fig. 5.
Fig. 5.
Average number of plastic surgery publications by invited speakers.
Fig. 6.
Fig. 6.
Average number of years since board certification in invited speakers.
Fig. 7.
Fig. 7.
Change in proportion of speaking opportunities over the years 2014–2020 (on logarithmic scale).
Fig. 8.
Fig. 8.
Proportion of speaking opportunities over the years 2014–2020 (can correlate with Fig. 7).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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