TY - JOUR
T1 - Assessing and benchmarking equity, diversity, and inclusion in healthcare professions
AU - Kayingo, Gerald
AU - Bradley-Guidry, Carolyn
AU - Burwell, Nicole
AU - Suzuki, Sumihiro
AU - Dorough, Ramona
AU - Bester, Vanessa
N1 - Funding Information:
To date, various initiatives have been implemented to improve equity, diversity, and inclusion in the healthcare professions workforce. In the PA profession, PAEA has identified diversity as a top priority in its strategic plan. The association has implemented a dynamic Diversity and Inclusion Mission Advancement Commission (DIMAC), provides a diversity tool kit, and has hired a dedicated chief diversity officer. PAEA's Government Relations Steering Committee also supported the enactment of the federal Physician Assistant Higher Education Modernization Act of 2019, which seeks to promote diversity in PA education by prioritizing grant funding in institutions that predominantly serve underrepresented minorities. The American Academy of Physician Associates (AAPA) also prioritizes diversity and inclusion among its core values, through which it seeks to eliminate disparities and barriers to quality healthcare. The AAPA also identifies promoting inclusion as one of the strategic commitments to the profession and launched a commission on diversity, equity, and inclusion. The Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant (ARC-PA) approved a new standard related to diversity and inclusion in its fifth edition. Similar initiatives can be found at the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN), and other healthcare professions organizations. Additionally, the AAMC has developed a culture that fully appreciates and integrates inclusion and diversity into its overall strategic planning as well as putting mechanisms in place for accountability.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 American Academy of Physician Associates.
PY - 2022/11/1
Y1 - 2022/11/1
N2 - Healthcare professions are among the fastest growing careers in the United States, but the issues of equity, diversity, and inclusion remain a challenge. The percentage of underrepresented minority groups is disproportionately small despite many efforts to increase workforce diversity over the past several decades. As the demographics in our nation are rapidly changing, increasing racial, ethnic, and cognitive diversity is crucial to achieving a workforce with the capacity to provide accessible and equitable healthcare. Given the growing evidence that a diverse workforce improves healthcare outcomes, fosters unique perspectives (cognitive diversity), and helps to reduce health disparities, there is an urgent need to address perennial barriers such as structural racism, biases, and stereotypes. Educational institutions should be held accountable to integrate equity, diversity, and inclusion in all aspects of healthcare professions education and practice. This article discusses potential areas for innovation and opportunities that can be leveraged in assessing and benchmarking equity, diversity, and inclusion in healthcare professions. The ability to thoroughly assess the PA profession's culture in relationship to diversity, equity, and inclusion provides an opportunity to determine how well the profession is performing, and to strategically plan for what else need to be done.
AB - Healthcare professions are among the fastest growing careers in the United States, but the issues of equity, diversity, and inclusion remain a challenge. The percentage of underrepresented minority groups is disproportionately small despite many efforts to increase workforce diversity over the past several decades. As the demographics in our nation are rapidly changing, increasing racial, ethnic, and cognitive diversity is crucial to achieving a workforce with the capacity to provide accessible and equitable healthcare. Given the growing evidence that a diverse workforce improves healthcare outcomes, fosters unique perspectives (cognitive diversity), and helps to reduce health disparities, there is an urgent need to address perennial barriers such as structural racism, biases, and stereotypes. Educational institutions should be held accountable to integrate equity, diversity, and inclusion in all aspects of healthcare professions education and practice. This article discusses potential areas for innovation and opportunities that can be leveraged in assessing and benchmarking equity, diversity, and inclusion in healthcare professions. The ability to thoroughly assess the PA profession's culture in relationship to diversity, equity, and inclusion provides an opportunity to determine how well the profession is performing, and to strategically plan for what else need to be done.
KW - PA
KW - benchmarking
KW - diversity
KW - equity
KW - inclusion
KW - workforce
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U2 - 10.1097/01.JAA.0000885184.50730.94
DO - 10.1097/01.JAA.0000885184.50730.94
M3 - Article
C2 - 36282578
AN - SCOPUS:85141199894
SN - 1547-1896
VL - 35
SP - 51
EP - 54
JO - Journal of the American Academy of Physician Assistants
JF - Journal of the American Academy of Physician Assistants
IS - 11
ER -