Racial and Ethnic Diversity and Depression in Residency Programs: a Prospective Cohort Study

Excerpt

Since the landmark Regents of California v. Bakke case in 1978, the Supreme Court has repeatedly upheld race-conscious admission policies based on the potential educational benefits of diversity. Within medical education, greater diversity also translates to a more diverse and culturally competent physician workforce—a critical factor for reducing broader healthcare disparities.¹ However, decades of efforts based on these justifications have yet to sufficiently increase the proportion of underrepresented minority (URM) medical trainees, prompting calls for further data to drive policy reforms.^{2, 3} As medical training is a period characterized by high stress and risk for depression,⁴ the relationship between program URM diversity and trainee well-being is a potentially important yet unexplored factor. …