In the United States, there is a growing recognition of the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion and a renewed commitment to social justice. Within the medical profession, a key element of promoting equity is a workforce that reflects the diversity of the population. The proportion of racial/ethnic minorities in the US has increased substantially since the 1960s, yet the ethnic diversity of medical students and physicians has increased only modestly, particularly for African Americans, Latinos, and Native Americans.1 In 2012, the racial/ethnic distribution of primary care physicians was 11.2% Asian, 6.8% Black, 5.9% Latino, and 72.5% White; the distribution among pediatricians was very similar.2

To achieve greater representation, the physician workforce must diversify in an unprecedented fashion, which will require intentional, longitudinal commitments at multiple levels, from individual physicians to the entire profession. We believe that pediatrics is well positioned to drive change because we care for the most diverse segment of our society, our training prepares us to understand how individual, family, and community factors shape children’s life experiences, and we have a long, successful history of advocating to improve child health and wellbeing. Our intent is to outline strategies and ideas to engage all pediatricians to promote workforce diversity.

Log in or create a free account to read this content

Gain free access to this article, as well as selected content from this journal and more on nature.com

Access through your institution

or

Sign in or create an account
Continue with Google
Continue with ORCiD