Diversity in the Cardiothoracic Surgery Workforce: What I Can Do

Abstract

Within the cardiothoracic surgery workforce, there are significant gaps in the numbers of women and underrepresented in medicine minorities, but some progress has been made in gender diversity at the resident level. Individual surgeons play an important role in combatting discrimination and harassment, while also promoting women and minorities through mentorship and sponsorship. More importantly, a multifaceted and structured approach is needed to increase diversity at the institutional level with strategies to create a culture of inclusion, working to retain underrepresented minority and female surgeons, and eliminating bias in the recruitment process.

Keywords: Disparities; Diversity and inclusion; Faculty development; Gender discrimination; Implicit bias; Mentorship; Surgical education; Underrepresented in medicine.