A recent study by Crowley, et al found that the standard most considered by Cardiologists is “fit.” Other findings in that study- 31% of respondents didn’t believe diversity improved patient care, 63% didn’t think diversity needed to be increased within their programs (despite 84% coming from programs that had <10% URMs and <33% women.)
People often describe a candidate who fits as someone they’d like to grab a beer with. But what if the person you’re considering doesn’t drink? Who is setting the standard for fit? If programs don’t think increased diversity improves patient care, then will they consider strong candidates who make that the bedrock of their application? Even if they rank them, will they be inviting them into an environment where their interests will be disregarded?
Look- in the larger Cardiology sense, I don’t fit. My interests rarely align with my colleagues’. I look different. I have to explain every word of slang I use and am modulating my speech in ways I haven’t had to since high school. But not fitting means that interns and medical students who don’t “fit” see themselves in me, and therefore in this field. The number of cold emails I’ve gotten asking for advice / mentorship has skyrocketed, and I’m just a fledgling fellow (there’s some commentary on the minority tax here I could go into, but that’s for another day.) If someone like me was looking for “fit,” I’d probably recruit people who could talk about comics, were musicheads, and were passionate about equity.
Oh, and I’m a Hot Girl. 😜
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