ArticleBJS open2025
Exploring effective strategies in promoting diversity, equity, and inclusivity in surgery: scoping review.
Article in BJS open, 2025. 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
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundDiversity, equity, and inclusion is vital for improving patient care, reducing health disparities, and driving innovation in surgery. Despite this, surgical doctors who are women or from minority groups remain under-represented in surgery. Barriers including limited exposure, entrenched stereotypes, systemic biases, and lack of diverse role models persist, whereas effective strategies remain underexplored. This review evaluates existing diversity, equity, and inclusion interventions that improve recruitment, retention, and promotion in surgery.
methodsFollowing PRISMA-ScR guidelines, PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane Library were searched in November 2024 and updated in September 2025 to include all studies published up to that date. Eligible studies ranged from October 2010 to August 2025. Methodological quality was assessed using an adapted 2018 Critical Appraisal Skills Programme checklist. Data were synthesized thematically to identify recurring intervention patterns.
resultsFrom 928 articles, 19 studies were included. Four overarching themes emerged: (1) pipeline programmes (workshops and scholarships) fostered early exposure, with some reporting > 70% participants from minority groups and doubled surgical entry of women; (2) holistic recruitment strategies overcoming rigid academic cut-offs increased interview offers to participants from minority groups (up to 8%) while maintaining academic standards, with some programmes reporting zero attrition; (3) mentorship from medical school to early career yielded 86% fellowship pursuit and > 50% faculty appointments among surgeons from minority groups; and (4) comprehensive institutional efforts, including diversity committees and faculty bias training, achieved up to 55% women and 33% people from minority groups among new hires. Mentorship, holistic reviews, career-stage scholarships, and institutional accountability emerged as impactful measures.
conclusionThis review underscores the importance of integrated diversity, equity, and inclusion strategies providing evidence-based pathways to address systemic inequities and build a more inclusive surgical workforce.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What 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.