Medical student specialty decision-making and perceptions of neurosurgery. Part 2: Role of race/ethnicity

OBJECTIVE Although individuals underrepresented in medicine (URM) make up 33% of the United States population, only 12.6% of medical school graduates identify as URM; the same percentage of URM students comprises neurosurgery residency applicants. More information is needed to understand how URM students are making specialty decisions and their perceptions of neurosurgery. The authors aimed to evaluate the differences between URM and non-URM medical students and residents in terms of the factors that contribute to specialty decision-making and perceptions of neurosurgery. METHODS A survey was administered to all medical students and resident physicians at a single Midwestern institution to assess factors influencing medical student specialty decision-making and perceptions of neurosurgery. Likert scale responses converted to numerical values on a 5-point scale (strongly agree was the high score of 5) were analyzed with the Mann-Whitney U-test. The chi-square test was performed on the binary responses to examine associations between categorical variables. Semistructured interviews were conducted and analyzed using the grounded theory method. RESULTS Of 272 respondents, 49.2% were medical students, 51.8% were residents, and 11.0% identified as URM. URM medical students considered research opportunities more than non-URM medical students in specialty decision-making (p = 0.023). When specialty decision-making factors were assessed, URM residents less strongly considered the technical skill required (p = 0.023), their perceived fit in the field (p < 0.001), and seeing people like them in the field (p = 0.010) than their non-URM counterparts when making specialty decisions. Within both medical student and resident respondent cohorts, the authors found no significant differences between URM and non-URM respondents in terms of their specialty decision-making being affected by medical school experiences such as shadowing, elective rotations, family exposure, or having a mentor in the field. URM residents were more concerned about the opportunity to work on health equity issues in neurosurgery than non-URM residents (p = 0.005). The predominant theme that emerged from interviews was the need for more intentional efforts to recruit and retain URM individuals in medicine and specifically neurosurgery. CONCLUSIONS URM students may make specialty decisions differently than non-URM students. URM students were more hesitant toward neurosurgery due to their perceived lack of opportunity for health equity work in neurosurgery. These findings further inform optimization of both new and existing initiatives to improve URM student recruitment and retention in neurosurgery.