Recruiting Underrepresented Minority Students into Psychiatry Residency: a Virtual Diversity Initiative

OBJECTIVE: The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly hindered medical student career planning and clinical rotations. Recruitment and networking may be more influential in match outcomes than previous cycles. Medical residency training programs have significant challenges in recruiting diverse applicants. The American Psychiatric Association’s Black Caucus developed a virtual recruitment event for residency programs with robust diversity initiatives and underrepresented medical students. This article evaluates our methods, short-term results, and influence on participating medical students. METHODS: The authors sent web-based invitations to all programs subscribed to the American Association of Directors of Psychiatric Residency Training listserv. Programs that demonstrated intention and commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion were selected. The authors used various social media platforms and the Black Caucus listserv to advertise to medical students. Student participants received an online feedback survey consisting of multiple-choice and open-ended questions. RESULTS: Thirty-six programs and one hundred seven medical students participated in the 2-day diversity fair. Seventy-six students completed the following survey, which is a response rate of 71%. A majority of students reported that this event strongly influenced their interest in a program (71.05) and are actively considering a residency program they had not previously considered (69.74). A majority of medical students (89.47) strongly agreed that program representatives treated them with professionalism and respect. CONCLUSION: This event improved communication between highly valued underrepresented minority students applicants and residency programs. A notable majority of participants found the program overwhelmingly beneficial.