While the number of women in medical school has increased to 48.1 percent, underrepresented groups each make up 7 percent of medical students, a study published Oct. 24 in JAMA Open Network found.
Researchers assessed data from 140 medical training programs across the United States to analyze enrollment patterns from 2011 to 2020 relating to racial, ethnic and gender representations in medicine.
Overall, researchers found higher proportions of women and underrepresented groups among medical students than faculty.
Researchers found the number of female faculty members increased from 19.1 percent to 24.6 percent while the number of underrepresented groups in medical school faculty remained unchanged at about 11 percent.
"This study helps us understand diversity in one specialty of academic medicine over the last 10 years and highlights factors that may influence the career journey from medical student to attending physician," the study's authors wrote. "It suggests that by recruiting and retaining URiM faculty, medical schools may be able to improve representation among future generations of physicians and make the elusive dream more attainable."