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The article reports that Dermatology is the least diverse medical specialties as studies addressing barriers faced by underrepresented in medicine (UIM) applicants to dermatology. Topics include process by dermatology residency programs may contribute to higher rates of matching among Black applicants; and disadvantaged backgrounds and to have financial concerns about the residency application process.

Dermatology is the second least diverse specialty in medicine. This may be due in part to limited early exposure and the lack of familiarity among minority pre-medical and medical students. Our study evaluated an intervention where 62 pre-medical students attended a virtual dermatology seminar on May 6, 2022. The seminar introduced dermatology, highlighted key leaders of color, and provided an opportunity for questions and responses. Surveys assessing familiarity with and interest in dermatology were administered before and after the seminar. Data was stored in Qualtrics (Provo, UT) and analyzed using RStudio (Posit PBC, Boston, MA), with a response rate of 89% (n=55). In the pre-survey, 20 students (32%) reported being familiar/very familiar with dermatology, compared to 47 students (85%) in the post-survey (P-value<0.001). Additionally, 26% (n=16) of students reported being likely to consider dermatology as a profession in the pre-survey versus the post-survey. These results suggest that targeted early-career interventions, such as this seminar, can increase familiarity and interest in dermatology among underrepresented in medicine (UIM) students, potentially contributing to greater diversity in the field., Competing Interests: Human subjects: Consent was obtained or waived by all participants in this study. The Institutional Review Board of the University of California San Francisco issued approval 22-36377. The Institutional Review Board of the University of California San Francisco classified this study as exempt (protocol number: 22-36377). Animal subjects: All authors have confirmed that this study did not involve animal subjects or tissue. Conflicts of interest: In compliance with the ICMJE uniform disclosure form, all authors declare the following: Payment/services info: All authors have declared that no financial support was received from any organization for the submitted work. Financial relationships: All authors have declared that they have no financial relationships at present or within the previous three years with any organizations that might have an interest in the submitted work. Other relationships: All authors have declared that there are no other relationships or activities that could appear to have influenced the submitted work., (Copyright © 2024, Rinderknecht et al.)

Competing Interests: DISCLOSURES: Dr. Mostaghimi reported consulting fees recieved from Pfizer, hims, Digital Diagnostics, Concert, Lilly, Abbvie, Equillium, Boehringer Ingelheim. Dr. LaChance reports a research grant was recieved from Pfizer. All other authors report no conflicts of interest relevant to the content of this article.