Diversity in Radiology: Resident Xiao Wu, MD, Discusses Research on the Topic

There have been growing national efforts to diversify the radiology workforce, but are those efforts having an impact? Xiao Wu, MD, a resident at the UC San Francisco Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging, investigated the question and shared her findings in a journal article and a podcast.

The paper, "Diversity in Radiology: Current Status and Trends Over the Past Decade," was first-authored by Dr. Wu and is published in Radiology. The senior author, Dr. Ajay Malhotra, professor of radiology at the Yale School of Medicine, joined Dr. Wu and podcast host Dr. Linda Chu, associate professor of radiology at Johns Hopkins Medicine, to discuss diversity on Radiology Podcasts from the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).

"Studies in the past have shown that patients feel more comfortable with a more diverse group of physicians," said Dr. Wu on the podcast. "Gender, as well as racial and ethnic representation, can help reduce healthcare disparities."

The researchers discussed the current status and trends of diversity in radiology, including the following findings:

• One of the greatest reductions along the pipeline was from female medical students to female radiology residency applicants, from 52% to 29%, nearly halved.
• The low representation of African American and Hispanic radiology faculty is seen at all levels and has not changed over time.
• Among underrepresented minority groups, female faculty members had increased representation relative to their male counterparts from 2010 to 2019.

Dr. Wu received the RSNA Trainee Research Prize for her presentation on the topic, "Gender and Racial Diversity in Radiology: Current Status and Trends in the Last Decade," in 2022.

The article by Wu et al. dives into the topic, isolating the proportion of diverse faculty at various levels of professorship and department leadership, and looks at the change in those proportions from 2010 to 2019. On the podcast, Dr. Wu and Dr. Malhotra discuss strategies improve recruitment of diverse residents and faculty, including increased exposure to radiology during medical school.

To learn more about diversity in radiology, listen to the podcast episode featuring Dr. Wu and read her article.