Name
#114 - Relationship between Career and Military Outcomes for Underrepresented Minority Physician Graduates of Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences
Date & Time
Tuesday, February 13, 2024, 12:00 PM
Description

Introduction The U.S. Military Health System (MHS) is a nationally representative population that comprises 9.6 million beneficiaries. Research has shown that the MHS mitigates racial disparities across several disciplines but has yet to be completely eliminated in several areas including mental health. One factor thought to be associated with disparities is physician/patient racial concordance. This study sought to investigate a discrete component of racial/ethnic concordance within the MHS by focusing on career and military outcomes for underrepresented minorities (URM) for graduates of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU) School of Medicine (URM), with a sub-analysis on graduates with psychiatry specialties. Methods and Materials This study used data from the Long-Term Career Outcome Study (LTCOS) conducted by USU. Contingency table statistical analysis was conducted to determine differences in career and military achievements for URM and non-URM graduates. Data on race and ethnicity was collected on graduates by allowing participants to enter free-text on the survey. To facilitate analysis, racial and ethnic categories were created using qualitative data analysis. Each entry was reviewed for completeness by two reviewers and placed into categories reflective of the US Census Bureau’s recognized categories for race and ethnicity. Chi-square statistics were calculated and the critical value of significance was set at .05. If the cell count in the contingency table was lower than 5, we reported Fisher's exact test result. Results Amongst all graduates, the analysis found a statistically significant relationship between race and ethnicity and having ever published in a professional peer reviewed journal (χ2= 3.709 (p < .05)). Additionally, there was a statistically significant association between race and ethnicity and highest rank achieved to date (χ2= 17.175 (p < .01)), spending 30 or more consecutive days to a theater of combat operations as a physician (χ2= 4.735 (p < .05)), and spending 7 or more consecutive days on a humanitarian mission as a physician (χ2= 9.027 (p < .05)). No other statistically significant relationships were found in relation to career or military achievements and URM status either among all graduates or the psychiatry sub-sample. Conclusions Overall, few statistically significant differences in career and military achievements among URM and non-URM USU SOM graduates were found in this study. However, the areas in which those significant associations were found are arguably some of the most important for building pathways to leadership roles for military medical physicians—rank, deployment experience, and publication in peer-reviewed journals. While the results are limited to a small cohort of active-duty medical personnel, they offer a foundation for further exploration on the topic. Future research in this area should seek to quantify the proportion of URM students and faculty in civilian and military medical schools, the proportions of URM physicians within the MHS with respect to their specialties, and understand the areas in which URM active-duty service members and dependents experience health disparities.

Location Name
Prince Georges Exhibit Hall A/B
Content Presented on Behalf of
Uniformed Services University
Learning Outcomes
1.Following this session, the attendee will be able to define the concept of physician/patient racial concordance <br />
2.Following this session, the attendee will be able to summarize the career and military achievements of underrepresented minority graduates from the Uniformed Services University School of Medicine <br />
3.Following this session, the attendee will be able to interpret the implications of a lack of physician/patient racial concordance within the military health system
Session Type
Posters