The texas regional psychiatry minority mentor network: A regional effort to increase psychiatry's workforce diversity

摘要

As highlighted by the Surgeon General's 2001 report, there is a need to eliminate mental health disparities among ethnic minorities that are underserved (1). Healthcare disparities have resulted in decreased access to bilingual services for underrepresented and underserved minorities, increased risk for misdiagnosis, more inpatient hospitalizations, and less follow-up after hospitalizations (2, 3). The current mental-health workforce is also deficient with respect to diversity. In 2007, 16% of psychiatry trainees were from underrepresented groups such as African American, Hispanic American, Native American, or of Pacific Islander descent. Also, 24% were of Asian descent. Even smaller proportions of the membership of the American Psychiatric Association (APA) (4) or of psychiatric faculty (5) belong to the underrepresented ethnic groups. Although the need for mentoring has been described as an important part of academic medicine, fewer than 50% of medical students and, in some fields, less than 20% of faculty are reported to have a mentor (6)