Inclusion of health equity language in recruitment materials for postgraduate pharmacy residencies.

Abstract

Purpose: The study objective was to analyze the use of health equity (HE)- and social determinants of health (SDOH)-related language within pharmacy residency websites and recruitment materials.

Methods: Using the ASHP residency directory of 2022, a randomly selected sample of postgraduate year 1 (PGY1) and PGY1/PGY2 programs from each state were analyzed. After search terms were selected from HE/SDOH resources, each program's residency-specific webpages (RSWs) and institution-specific webpages (ISWs) were searched and given a score based on the frequency of identified terms. The primary outcome was the number of programs with at least one identified instance of HE/SDOH terms. Additional outcomes included the frequency of HE/SDOH terms on ISWs or RSWs and program score distribution. Outcomes were also evaluated among programs in medically underserved areas (MUAs).

Results: Three hundred eighteen programs were included, of which 205 (64%) included HE/SDOH language within RSWs, ISWs, or both. Of these 205 programs, 126 programs (61%) included language only on ISWs. The number of programs that only had one instance of HE/SDOH terms on either category of webpages, or had a score of 1, was 128 programs (40.2% of the total of 318 programs). Of the 111 programs in MUAs (35%), 66 (59.5%) included HE/SDOH language within the ISWs.

Conclusion: Most evaluated programs, including those in MUAs, lacked language specifically identifying their focus and work around HE/SDOH within their residency promotional materials.