Surgery

This page aims to draw attention to Health Equity and DEI issues within the field of surgery, this includes diversifying the surgeon workforce and addressing racial and gender-based disparities in perioperative care.

ACS Increasing Diversity in Surgery 

AORN Stories of DEI in Action

Qureshi AP, Johnson SM, Sylla P, Pryor AD, Telem D, Jones DB, Bingener-Casey J, Feldman LS, Mellinger J; SAGES DLPD Committee. Leaning in and moving forward: a call to action and review of diversity initiatives in SAGES. Surg Endosc. 2024 Aug;38(8):4095-4103. doi: 10.1007/s00464-024-10814-x. Epub 2024 Jun 20. 

Newman LA, Backhus LM, Kibbe MR. JAMA Surgery Reaffirmation to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. JAMA Surg. 2023 Nov 1;158(11):1125. doi:
10.1001/jamasurg.2023.4033. 

Toledo P, Wright CC, Vetter TR. Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: More Than Words. Anesth Analg. 2023 Oct 1;137(4):722-723. doi:
10.1213/ANE.0000000000006636. Epub 2023 Sep 5. 

Health Inequities in Surgical Care

• Surgical care for racial and ethnic minorities and interventions to address inequities: A narrative review
• Racial and ethnic minorities underrepresented in pain management guidelines for total joint arthroplasty: A Meta-analysis
• Racial disparities in complications and mortality after bariatric surgery: A systematic review

Health Inequities Gender Affirmation Surgery

• Perioperative experiences of transgender adults seeking gender-affirming surgery: A qualitative interview study
• Gender affirming surgery on the rise: Analysis of trends and outcomes
• Racial disparities in gender affirming surgery: A comparative study on plastic surgeon social media use

Health Inequities in Pediatric Surgery

• Health Disparities Research: What every pediatric surgeon should know 
• Racial disparities in postoperative morbidity and mortality among high-risk pediatric surgical patients
• Racial and ethnic differences in pediatric surgery utilization in the United States: A nationally representative cross-sectional analysis

According to a 2022 news article from JAMA, only 6.3% of all US general surgery residency graduates were African American.

Selwyn M. Vickers, MD is a world-renowned cancer surgeon, researcher, andcurrent president/CEO of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Dr. Vickers is an internationally recognized pancreatic cancer surgeon, pancreatic cancer researcher, and pioneer in health disparities research. He is a member of the National Academy of Medicine and the Johns Hopkins Society of Scholars. He has served on the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine Board of Trustees and the Johns Hopkins University Board of Trustees. Additionally, he has served as President of the Society for Surgery of the Alimentary Tract and the Southern Surgical Association. Dr. Vickers is the immediate Past President of the American Surgical Association. Dr. Vickers continues to see patients.