Board Director News

Personal Profile Questions Launched

In 2020, the ABPMR made a commitment to racial equity and diversity and also shared updates on our progress in April 2021. Now, we have an exciting addition as part of the next phase of our equity and inclusion efforts.

Today, we are launching Personal Profile questions to better understand the diversity of the PM&R field so we can measure progress in our goals and move toward a more equitable future for all.

How does this relate to our equity and diversity goals?

In our original commitment, we pledged to take steps to increase the diversity of our volunteer pool and board of directors. In order do this, we need data to understand the current demographic landscape in PM&R. Collecting information on exam candidates will also allow us to determine whether any bias is present in our board certification process and make plans to mitigate any bias.

How will we protect your data?

Your information will only be used in aggregate as we consider the field as a whole. Personal information may be considered for volunteer recruitment purposes, but will only be shared internally (with ABPMR staff or board directors). Your personal information is not passed to any external organizations.

What should you expect?

The Personal Profile questions officially launched today—you will be prompted to answer them when you sign in to your ABPMR account. The questions ask you to self-identify race and ethnicity (multiple selections allowed), gender, sexual orientation, and disability status; we estimate the questions will take a minute or less to complete. You will provide these responses just once, but you may change your answers anytime from your User Profile page.

The ABPMR is striving to honor the diversity in our field and elevate voices that have been historically underrepresented in medicine. The Personal Profile questions will help us better understand and engage with our diplomates as we continue to learn and grow in our goals for equity and diversity in PM&R.