International medical graduates may face bias during fellowship recruitment process
Non-U.S. citizen international medical graduates likely face considerable bias during the hematology/oncology fellowship recruitment process, according to study results.
More than one-third of physicians practicing hematology/oncology in the United States are international medical graduates.
“There is very little data about perceptions regarding them and how they do in the fellowship recruitment process,” Ayesha Butt, MBBS, postdoctoral research associate in hematology at Yale Cancer Center, told Healio.
Butt and colleagues conducted a national survey of U.S. hematology and medical oncology fellowship program directors to evaluate their perceptions of diversity, equity and inclusion in the fellowship recruitment process.
Survey respondents rated how advantaged or disadvantaged they viewed specific applicant demographic groups, including those defined by race, ethnicity, age, sex and marital status. Researchers also asked respondents to distinguish between U.S. and non-U.S. citizen international medical graduates.
The findings — published in JCO Oncology Practice — showed fellowship program directors viewed non-U.S. citizen international medical graduates as the most disadvantaged group, followed by applicants aged older than 40 years and U.S. citizen international medical graduates.
“International medical graduates were considered to be more disadvantaged than all historically underrepresented groups in medicine,” Butt told Healio.
Healio spoke with Butt about the implications of the findings and the steps that can be taken to address these perceptions.
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