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Table 3 Priority 3: Diversity of physician workforce, and diversity and inclusiveness in the learning and working environment

From: Responsiveness to societal needs in postgraduate medical education: the role of accreditation

Interventions

Benefits to the health care system

(relevant social accountability values)

Strategies to effect change

Promote equity in access to medical education for all individuals regardless of gender or racial, ethnic, or other minority status

Increased fairness; enhanced diversity; a physician workforce that is more representative of the diversity of patients

(relevance, equity) [3]

System: Affirmative action [18] (despite ongoing challenges) [19]

Accreditation: Accreditation requirements that promote diversity and inclusion [20]; standards for programs and institutions to focus on the ongoing, systematic recruitment and retention of a diverse workforce, including trainees, faculty, senior leaders, and other members of the academic community

Institution and program: Institutions with a mission to educate members of racial or ethnic minorities; holistic admissions approaches that promote diversity and inclusion [21]

Promote cultural curiosity, sensitivity, and humility

Improved experience of care; promotion of patient engagement and adherence to care

(relevance, quality, equity) [3]

Accreditation: Accreditation efforts to highlight cultural sensitivity and cultural competence in curricula, educational programming, faculty role modelling, and trainee assessment [22]

Institution and program: Institutional- and program-level efforts to teach, role-model, and assess cultural competency and sensitivity

Promote diversity and inclusion with respect to race, ethnicity, religion, gender, and sexual orientation in the medical workforce

Promotion of an inclusive, supportive learning environment, and of cultural sensitivity and humility in the learning environment and in graduates’ future practice

Accreditation: Accreditation standards requiring that programs and their institutions focus on the ongoing, systematic recruitment and retention of a diverse workforce, including trainees, faculty, senior leaders, and other members of the academic community.

Institution and program: Institutional- and program-level efforts to teach, role-model, and assess inclusiveness in the learning and working environment; faculty development focused on the advancement of minorities [23]