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Objective: A diverse physician workforce ensures equitable care. The holistic review of residency applications is one strategy to enhance physician diversity; however, little is known about current adoption and the factors that facilitate/impede the adoption of holistic recruitment practices (HRPs) by graduate medical education (GME) residency, and fellowship program directors (PDs). To describe the current state and explore, the barriers/facilitators to the adoption of HRPs at our institution., Methods: We disseminated information about HRP within our program between 2021 and 2022. In May 2022, a survey of 73 GME PDs assessed current recruitment practices and self-reported barriers to holistic recruitment. Holistic Recruitment Scores (HRSs) reflecting the adoption of best practices were tabulated for each program and compared to identify predictors of adoption., Results: 73/80 (92%) of PDs completed the survey. Programs whose PDs had higher academic rank, total number of trainees, and female trainees in the past 3 years had higher HRSs. Program size was directly correlated with HRS. Most (93%) PDs felt their current efforts were aligned to increase diversity and 58% felt there were no barriers to the adoption of holistic review. The most reported barriers were lack of time and knowledge/expertise in diversity, equity, and inclusion ( DEI ) , both reported by 16 out of 73 PDs (22%)., Conclusion: While most PDs implemented some HRP, institutional and departmental support of program directors through the commitment of resources (eg, staffing help and subject matter experts/coaches hiring) are crucial to overcome barriers., Competing Interests: The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article., (© The Author(s) 2024.)

Efforts toward achieving diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice (DEIJ) within graduate medical education (GME) often begin with the formation of a DEIJ committee that steers the work. Little is known about the experiences and the challenges faced by those serving on such committees. We sought to describe the experiences of members of our institutional GME DEIJ committee to gain knowledge that would propel this work forward. An open-ended survey was electronically administered to members of our institutional GME DEIJ committee. Responses were analyzed using a rapid qualitative analytical approach. Eighteen members (58%) responded. Of these, (67%) were women and five (28%) were Black. Six domains emerged: "motivation," "challenges," "emotional response," "highs," "facilitators," and "advice." Black respondents more often cited the need to increase diversity as a motivator to join this work. Women and Black respondents more often identified time constraints as a challenge to participation. Some members found the work emotionally draining; others described it as uplifting. Two themes emerged as high points of participation-pride and achievement around the work completed and the personal benefits of building a community with a shared purpose. Three themes emerged as facilitators: effective leadership, support, and establishing psychological safety during the meetings. Many arrived at the realization that change would take time and advocated for patience and perseverance. Protected time and DEIJ expertise were identified as integral to successful committee work. Our findings provide novel insights into the experience of serving on a GME DEIJ committee and highlights infrastructural and institutional prerequisites for success., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Kara, Wright, Funches, Williamson, Hicks, Sutton and Nabhan.)

The cauda equina syndrome in ankylosing spondylitis (the CES-AS syndrome) is marked by slow, insidious progression and a high incidence of dural ectasia in the lumbosacral spine. A high index of suspicion for this problem must be maintained when evaluating the patient with ankylosing spondylitis with a history of incontinence and neurologic deficit on examination. There has been disagreement in the literature as to whether surgical treatment is warranted for this condition. A meta-analysis was thus performed comparing outcomes with treatment regimens. Our results suggest that leaving these patients untreated or treating with steroids alone is inappropriate. Nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs may improve back pain but do not improve neurologic deficit. Surgical treatment of the dural ectasia, either by lumboperitoneal shunting or laminectomy, may improve neurologic dysfunction or halt the progression of neurologic deficit.