Increasing Underrepresented Minority Representation in a General Surgery Residency Program Utilizing a 3-Phase Strategy.

BACKGROUND: Underrepresented minority groups (URMs) in surgery are not significantly increasing despite evidence suggesting that diversity in health care providers leads to excellent patient outcomes and care. Efforts to increase URM representation in surgical residency programs are essential for addressing disparities and improving health care delivery. METHODS: This retrospective study outlines a three-phase strategy implemented at a large academic-affiliated hospital to increase URM representation in its general surgery residency program. The strategy encompassed interview selection with a holistic review and implicit bias training for interviewers, modification of the interview scoring rubric, and post-interview recruitment efforts, including a virtual second look event for URM applicants. RESULTS: Following the implementation of these strategies, the URM match rate improved from 0 to 33.3% in the first year and was sustained at 33.3% in the subsequent year. Consequently, the representation of URMs in the residency program rose from 6.7% before our intervention to 13.3% afterwards. DISCUSSION: This structured approach successfully increased URM representation in a surgical residency program, affirming the success of targeted recruitment strategies. By promoting a diverse and inclusive environment, the program better reflects the community it serves, with aims at improved patient care and patient satisfaction.

Super-resolution imaging of nuclear import of adeno-associated virus in live cells.

Adeno-associated virus (AAV) has been developed as a promising human gene therapy vector. Particularly, recombinant AAV vector (rAAV) achieves its transduction of host cells by crossing at least three physiological barriers including plasma membrane, endosomal membrane, and nuclear envelope (NE). So far, the AAV transduction mechanism has not been explored thoroughly at the single viral particle level. In this study, we employed high-speed super-resolution single-point edge-excitation sub-diffraction (SPEED) microscopy to map the events of single rAAV2 particles infecting live human cells with an unprecedented spatiotemporal resolution of 9-12 nm and 2-20 ms. Data reveal that rAAV2 particles are imported through nuclear pore complexes (NPCs) rather than nuclear membrane budding into the nucleus. Moreover, approximately 17% of the rAAV2 molecules starting from the cytoplasm successfully transverse the NPCs to reach the nucleoplasm, revealing that the NPCs act as a strict selective step for AAV delivery. This study lastly suggests a new pathway to improve AAV vectors for human gene therapy.