The Missing Faces of Pain Medicine: Gender and Race Gaps in the Fellowship Pipeline - A Review of the Recent AAMC and NRMP Data

Saturday, November 15, 2025

10:53 AM - 11:01 AM CT

Location: 301 - 302

Introduction: Pain medicine has exhibited disparities in gender and race among fellows, which have only deepened. Recent data reveal that inequity has persisted since at least 2019, with the percentage of female applicants ranging from 19.6–25.1% and declining [1]. Most fellows identify as White or Asian, with minimal representation from other groups. Amid increasing patient diversity and a decline in pain medicine applications, this signals a concerning decrease in the diversity of future pain medicine physicians.

Submitting Author(s)

LN

Lee Nguyen, MD

Physician
University of California Davis Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine
Sacramento, California, United States

Co-Author(s)

ET

Ellie Tsang, BS

Medical Student
University of California Davis School of Medicine, United States
CS

Chinar Sanghvi, MD

Physician
University of California Davis Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, United States
SP

Scott Pritzlaff, MD

Physician
University of California Davis Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, United States