Widening the Gates: Redefining Excellence in Selection for Health Professions Education for a Diverse Future Workforce.

Abstract

To ensure diversity in the healthcare workforce selection committees must select a cohort of students who collectively possess the wide variety of qualities necessary to serve societal needs. In practice, selection procedures primarily focus on predicting academic outcomes, which are currently based on a limited set of qualities, restricting the definition of excellence in healthcare. The authors propose a shift in the design of selection procedures by including additional considerations - student diversity and applicant perception - to select talented students who can fulfil societal needs. The authors explain the importance of incorporating these considerations into the design of selection procedures and challenges that may arise. To overcome the challenges of incorporating student diversity and applicant perception in the design of selection procedures, a new view on alignment between the profession, training and selection is needed. This starts with redefining excellence in the profession with more explicit attention to equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI). The authors argue that by employing an EDI-adjusted model of alignment, selection procedures can enhance academic outcomes, properly recognize the talents of and acknowledge the needs for a diverse future workforce and be perceived as fair by applicants.