Next Steps for Diversity in Medicine

Just published online in the Annals of Surgery, “Benchmarking Accomplishments of Leaders in American Surgery and Justification for Enhancing Diversity and Inclusion,” offers an analysis in leadership in surgery and ways to enhance diversity and inclusion, including what lead author Paris Butler, MD, calls a roadmap to those who aspire to be leaders.

The paper dissects the qualifications of association presidents of four key societies: the American College of Surgeons, the American Surgical Association, the Association of Women Surgeons, and the Society of Black Academic Surgeons.

Described by coauthor Colin A. Martin, MD, as a paper that sits at the intersection of data and action, Dr. Butler believes, “Moving forward, in my opinion, with disparity work, it’s not enough to just describe it anymore. We have to provide some suggestions. We have to provide some strategies on how we’re going to alleviate or at least mitigate some of these disparities, and that’s what we do in this manuscript.”

Reference:

Butler PD, Pugh CM, Meer E, et al. Benchmarking Accomplishments of Leaders in American Surgery and Justification for Enhancing Diversity and Inclusion. Ann Surg. 2020; epub ahead of print. Doi: 10.1097/SLA.0000000000004151