Building a Diverse Psychiatric Workforce for the Future and Helping Them Thrive: Recommendations for Psychiatry Training Directors

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic and murder of Mr George Floyd served as catalysts for examining antiracism efforts in psychiatry training programs and health care systems. Our recruitment and retention of Black, Indigenous, and other racial/ethnic minority psychiatry trainees has not met the demand for care and does not represent the communities served. Training directors at a critical juncture in creating systemic changes to recruitment, retention, policies, and curricular competencies to address ongoing inequities and disparities in health care. We describe several strategies and considerations for training directors in supporting a diverse psychiatric workforce.

Keywords: Anti-racism; Psychiatry residency recruitment; Psychiatry residency training; Structural competency; Training directors; Workforce diversity.