Challenges in changing the face of medicine: Commentary on “Diversity, equity, and inclusion in presidential leadership of academic medical and surgical societies”

The authors aim to identify gender and racial disparities within presidential leadership roles for national medical societies but fail to include one of the largest racial/ethnic groups within that category, namely Hispanic/Latinx individuals.1 Hispanic/Latinx individuals make up 18.7% of the U.S. population—the second largest racial/ethnic group behind White Non-Hispanic—but represent only 5% of active physicians.2,3 The AAMC defines underrepresented in medicine (URiM) as “racial and ethnic populations that are underrepresented in the medical profession relative to their numbers in the general population.” Restricting diversity to only include Black and/or female designations severely limits any analysis of progression towards racial equity within leadership roles in national medical organizations. Nonetheless, the authors effectively emphasize the stark disparities that remain with representation amongst Black women in leadership roles.