Browse by author
Lookup NU author(s): Professor Alexander PhillipsORCiD
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
© The Author(s) 2026. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of BJS Foundation Ltd.Background: Diversity, equity, and inclusion is vital for improving patient care, reducing health disparities, and driving innovation in surgery. Despite this, surgical doctors who are women or from minority groups remain under-represented in surgery. Barriers including limited exposure, entrenched stereotypes, systemic biases, and lack of diverse role models persist, whereas effective strategies remain underexplored. This review evaluates existing diversity, equity, and inclusion interventions that improve recruitment, retention, and promotion in surgery. Methods: Following PRISMA-ScR guidelines, PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane Library were searched in November 2024 and updated in September 2025 to include all studies published up to that date. Eligible studies ranged from October 2010 to August 2025. Methodological quality was assessed using an adapted 2018 Critical Appraisal Skills Programme checklist. Data were synthesized thematically to identify recurring intervention patterns. Results: From 928 articles, 19 studies were included. Four overarching themes emerged: (1) pipeline programmes (workshops and scholarships) fostered early exposure, with some reporting > 70% participants from minority groups and doubled surgical entry of women; (2) holistic recruitment strategies overcoming rigid academic cut-offs increased interview offers to participants from minority groups (up to 8%) while maintaining academic standards, with some programmes reporting zero attrition; (3) mentorship from medical school to early career yielded 86% fellowship pursuit and > 50% faculty appointments among surgeons from minority groups; and (4) comprehensive institutional efforts, including diversity committees and faculty bias training, achieved up to 55% women and 33% people from minority groups among new hires. Mentorship, holistic reviews, career-stage scholarships, and institutional accountability emerged as impactful measures. Conclusion: This review underscores the importance of integrated diversity, equity, and inclusion strategies providing evidence-based pathways to address systemic inequities and build a more inclusive surgical workforce.
Author(s): Sharmin A, Ahmed R, Phillips AW
Publication type: Review
Publication status: Published
Journal: BJS Open
Year: 2026
Volume: 10
Issue: 2
Online publication date: 13/04/2026
Acceptance date: 16/01/2026
ISSN (electronic): 2474-9842
Publisher: Oxford University Press
URL: https://doi.org/10.1093/bjsopen/zrag020
DOI: 10.1093/bjsopen/zrag020
PubMed id: 41974205
Data Access Statement: This study is based on previously published data. All articles included in the review are available to researchers through the public databases PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane Library. The list of included studies and full search strategy are provided in the manuscript and supplementary material
