Increasing diversity: underrepresented medical specialties in clinical informatics

Presentation Time: 10:30 AM - 12:30 PM

Abstract Keywords: Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, Building Value for Informatics via Education and Training, Leadership Development for Informatics Trainees and Workforce, Ethical, Legal, and Social Issues
Working Group: Surgical and Procedural Informatics Working Group
Primary Track: Leadership and Governance
Programmatic Theme: Leadership, Advocacy and Policy

Clinical Informatics (CI) is a growing medical subspecialty critical for modern healthcare. Despite its importance, disparities persist in the representation of primary medical and procedural based specialties within CI. Since the American Board of Medical Specialties first board certified physicians in CI in 2014, most of these physicians have non-procedural primary specialties. Non-procedural physicians also comprise 75% of CI fellows. In contrast, only 10-20% of board-certified CI physicians are proceduralists. This disparity contrasts with the significant electronic health record burdens procedural specialists face, and the unique opportunities they have to apply CI principles into practice. Patients and institutions would benefit by informatics improvements in the quality and efficiency of such high-risk and high revenue-generating specialties.

Proceduralists face multiple barriers to CI careers including longer clinical training, higher opportunity costs, and limited awareness of certification pathways. After 2025, CI board certification will require completing an ACGME-accredited CI fellowship, further limiting accessibility for proceduralists. These challenges are compounded by higher salaries for advanced postgraduate years, making it difficult for CI fellowship programs to accommodate procedural specialists. Integrated Training Experiences (ITE) are one promising solution to these challenges.

The goal of this session is to present the varied challenges faced by underrepresented specialties and other clinicians in pursuing training in informatics, to empower proceduralists to pursue CI, and to work with proceduralists and allies to identify actionable tasks to raise awareness and reduce disparities in specialties in CI.
Speaker(s):
Ellen Kim, MD
Brigham & Women's Hospital

Kevin Sexton, MD
Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC)

Jonathan Hron, MD
Boston Children's Hospital

Raman Khanna, MD, MAS
University of California, San Francisco

Edna Shenvi, MD, MAS
Elimu Informatics Inc.

Author(s):
Ellen Kim, MD - Brigham & Women's Hospital; Kevin Sexton, MD - Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC); Edna Shenvi, MD, MAS - Elimu Informatics Inc.; Raman Khanna, MD, MAS - University of California, San Francisco; Joshua Villarreal, MD - Stanford Healthcare; Colleen Flanagan, MD - UCSF; Christine Ramdin, PhD - Rutgers New Jersey Medical School Department of Emergency Medicine; Abdulaziz Alkattan, Clinical Informatics - NYP/Columbia; Andrew Bain, MD - University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center; Eugene Kim, MD, JD, MS - Boston Children's Hospital; Heather Lyu, MD, MBI - University of Texas, MD Anderson Cancer Center; Jayson Marwaha, MD - Georgetown University Hospital; Jonathan Hron, MD - Boston Children's Hospital;