ArticleJournal of racial and ethnic health disparities2026
Exploring Racial, Ethnic, and Gender Representation in Key Academic Anesthesiology Leadership Roles in the USA.
Article in Journal of racial and ethnic health disparities, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionEvolving demographic trends in the USA have prompted stakeholders to demand a healthcare workforce that reflects the general population. Despite improvements in gender representation in medicine and anesthesiology, Black and Hispanic trainees remain underrepresented. As today's trainees become tomorrow's leaders, this disparity threatens to perpetuate minority underrepresentation in anesthesiology leadership roles. Previous assessments of anesthesiology leadership overlooked crucial roles involved in the residency selection process, such as anesthesiology chairs and program directors (PDs), which significantly influence the specialty's demographics. We analyzed the racial, ethnic, and gender distribution of these key "gatekeeper roles" to understand the potential root causes of minority underrepresentation in anesthesiology leadership positions.
methodsThis was a cross-sectional study of anesthesiology residency and fellowship programs available on the Fellowship and Residency Electronic Interactive Database Access (FREIDA) website. We extracted demographic data (gender, race, and ethnicity) of anesthesiology chairpersons, residency program directors, and fellowship program directors as reported on the FRIEDA website or from other online sources (department website or Google search). Three independent reviewers extracted demographic data, and an additional reviewer assisted with resolving demographic assignment conflicts when necessary.
resultsThere were 603 anesthesiology faculty leaders from 171 academic anesthesiology programs of whom 145 were departmental chairs, 169 were residency PDs, and 289 were fellowship PDs. Overall, only 34% (n = 205) of these leaders were women. Departmental chairpersons were predominantly White (85.5%), with minimal representation from other racial or ethnic groups. Similar racial, ethnic, and gender underrepresentation was observed among residency and fellowship program directors (PDs) except in pediatric anesthesiology (women = 51.8%).
conclusionConsiderable racial, ethnic, and gender inequities were identified in crucial leadership roles in academic anesthesiology. These findings suggest an urgent need for targeted actions to ensure equitable representation, particularly in positions that influence residency and fellowship selection processes, which ultimately determines the demographic composition of anesthesiologists in the USA. Promoting diversity in leadership roles can help ensure a more equitable and representative healthcare workforce, which is essential for improving patient care and fostering innovation.
Indexed as
Identifiers
40148668What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.