Embracing Diversity and Inclusion in Psychiatry Leadership

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Key points

  • Embracing diversity and inclusion are essential to the practice of high-quality psychiatry, and these tenets also apply to developing and sustaining a diverse and inclusive field of academic psychiatry leaders.

  • Pipeline programs for students and medical trainees can provide supportive communities that enhance student success and increase physician diversity.

  • Individual leadership development programs provide ongoing faculty development to encourage leadership readiness and effectiveness.

Introduction: the importance of culture, diversity, and inclusion in psychiatry

There is a growing recognition that culture, diversity, and inclusion are essential to the practice of high-quality clinical care in medicine and, more specifically, in psychiatry. The landmark Supplement to Mental Health: A Report of the Surgeon General, entitled Mental Health: Culture, Race, and Ethnicity, was one of the first federal reports to provide clear documentation of mental health disparities and how they can be viewed through the lens of culture.1 Despite this landmark publication

First steps: the pipeline for physician training

The Association of American Medical Colleges’ (AAMC) most recent annual data on medical school applicants and matriculants demonstrate an acceptance rate of 41.1% overall in 2015. However, acceptance rates differ among select racial/ethnic subgroups, with Asian, Latino/Hispanic, and White applicants having similar acceptance rates (42%, 42%, 44%, respectively) while African American or Black applicants were accepted at a lower rate of 34%.20 These data show even greater inequities when

Developing and supporting a diverse and inclusive faculty

Considering the significant underrepresentation at the academic faculty level, additional efforts are required to recruit, retain, and advance URM physicians in academia. One approach many institutions have used as a means to increase visibility in addressing diversity and inclusion activities on campus is through executive leadership with the creation of a position of Chief Diversity Officer (CDO). The rationale for this approach is one that suggests that a senior level leader would have

Ways forward: implications for psychiatric leadership and the future of psychiatry

Although there are many viable paths to increase the diversity of psychiatric leadership in academic medicine (and the field as a whole), many challenges exist. Structural discrimination, bias, and stereotypes perpetuate the image of one-dimensional psychiatrist leaders (ie, Sigmund Freud). For significant progress to be made, leaders in psychiatry must begin to better resemble an increasingly diverse field of psychiatry residents who serve a more diverse community of patients.

Within academic

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