Inequity in Assessment Among Pediatric Residents

In undergraduate and graduate medical education (GME), verbal and written assessments provide feedback to learners and inform decisions about advancement.1 These assessments are prone to inequity, reflecting biases leading to disparities in performance assessment.2 Disparities in scores and differential, biased language in written and verbal assessments of learners underrepresented in medicine (URIM) and female learners have been described in undergraduate medical education and several GME specialties, but not pediatrics.2,3 Understanding whether these inequities exist in pediatrics is important because inequities accumulate over time, harming trainees’ career trajectories and society’s interest in a diverse physician workforce.4,5 In this study, we sought to determine whether pediatric residents had experienced inequity in assessments.