Why Diversity and Inclusion Are Critical to the American College of Emergency Physicians' Future Success.
To ensure the future success of our specialty and organization, the American College of Emergency Physicians' (ACEP's) Board of Directors is moving forward "to promote and facilitate diversity, inclusion, and cultural sensitivity" as an integral part of the ACEP strategic plan. As discussed below, fostering broad and inclusive participation in ACEP's efforts enhances the array of thoughtful and innovative ideas brought forth, mitigates unconscious bias, and directly increases the likelihood of future success for our College and specialty. The United States has long been culturally varied and is becoming even more so today. Women now make up more than half of the population, and America is becoming an increasingly racially and ethnically diverse society, as reported by theUSCensus Bureau. Today, minority groups (ie, any group other than non Hispanic white) compose approximately 38% of our population and are projected to become the collective majority as early as 2044. Most large US cities, and some of the largest and fastest growing states, have populations in whichminorities are now collectively the majority, or will be in the near future. As a specialty, emergency medicine is in a unique position to serve this diverse population. For some of our nation's emergency departments (EDs) patients from minority backgrounds compose the majority of their patient visits. This trend will increase for the foreseeable future as the population diversifies. Within the medical profession, however, organized medicine leadership and the medical workforce itself remain predominantly white and disproportionately men. This is largely reflective of historical factors that determined who was allowed to attend medical school, train in residency programs, and practice medicine in our country. There remains an unconscious bias toward white men as leaders or authority figures not just by white men but also by women and minority populations.
Annals of emergency medicine