Minority BarrierNCT04694339
Minority Barriers in Anesthesia
An observational study of Minority Barrier and Lack of Mentoring Program, run by Tufts Medical Center at 1 site in United States.
Trial summary
The investigators aim to survey members of the ASA (medical students, residents, and attendings) who self-identify as minorities to assess if there are systemic barriers to minorities pursuing leadership positions. Read more about this study
- Who is it for?
- Ages 25 to 75 years
- Conditions the study is for
- Minority Barrier, Lack of Mentoring Program, Pass Over for Promotion
- What is being tested?
- Survey
- How many people
- 250 participants
- Where
- 1 siteUnited States
- Study dates
- 22 Dec 2020to 31 Aug 2028
- Phase
- Observational
- Are there results?
- Not yet: the study is under way
Key requirements
Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.
- Ages 25 to 75 years
- All sexes
- No healthy volunteers
- Adult, Older adult
Study population: Medical students, residents, attending anesthesiologists, members of ASA, self-identifying as minorities
Who may be able to join
- Members of ASA, medical students, residents, attending anesthesiologists, self-identifying as minorities
Who cannot join
- Non-ASA members
Trial locations and contacts
1 site in 1 country. Contact the study team or a site near you to ask about taking part.
United States1 site, 1 recruiting
- Recruiting
Iwona Bonney
Boston, Massachusetts, 02143
Iwona Bonney, PhD, 16175011970, ibonney@tuftsmedicalcenter.org
Iwona Bonney, PhD, 617 636 6044, IBonney@tuftsmedicalcenter.org
About this study
Official title: Minority Barriers to Professional Advancement in Anesthesia
The investigators aim to survey members of the ASA (medical students, residents, and attendings) who self-identify as minorities to assess if there are systemic barriers to minorities pursuing leadership positions. The investigators hypothesize that structural issues such as a lack of formalized mentoring programs play a role in reduced minority professional advancement.
Read the detailed description
Within the American Society of Anesthesiology (ASA) underrepresented minorities comprise only 6.0% of leadership. Within the ASA, women additionally only hold 21% of House of Delegates and state society officer positions, while comprising 38% of the national anesthesiology workforce.
The investigators will be using a survey via SurveyMonkey with potential for an opt-in phone or Zoom interview via the interviewee using the contact information at the bottom of the SurveyMonkey. The questions for the Survey Monkey are below. The investigators will use the Tufts HIPAA-compliant Zoom account for any Zoom interviews.
In order to deidentify the phone and Zoom interviews, investigators will not label any transcripts of the interviews with names or identifying information. The investigators will also destroy all correspondence after a time and date for the phone/Zoom interview is set.
Participants will be self-selecting for this survey. The investigators aim to email the coordinators of the ASA (medical student component, resident component, general body) who will then forward investigators' contact letter and survey to participants' constituents. Given the self-selecting nature of the survey, the investigators are not specifically targeting individuals who identify as minorities--as there are variable definitions to this term--but rather investigators will use the survey to evaluate for trends within the responses. The investigators hypothesize that gender/race/sexual orientation may play a role in career choices for individuals, which will be elucidated through the survey responses. The investigators will sort the surveys into groups to where minority identification played a large role in career versus where it did not and then calculate the trend as a percentage of the total survey responses.
The investigators recognize that it may be more possible to provide in-depth responses to the survey via a phone or Zoom interview. Therefore, investigators have included a contact information in the contact letter and the Survey Monkey and will give participants the option of doing a phone/Zoom interview instead of the Survey Monkey.
Survey Questions:
Why did you decide to pursue medicine as a career? Why anesthesia? Did gender play a role in your decision to pursue medicine? In your decision to do anesthesia? Did race play a role in your decision to pursue medicine? In your decision to do anesthesia? Do you have any regrets about your career choice? Where do you currently practice? What led you to choose that practice setting? What mentorship resources were available to you along your career path? What is a professional success you had? What is a perceived failure you may have had? How did that effect your career? What if your five-year plan? Ten-year plan? Twenty? What is a minority?
- Being tested
- Survey
What participants receive
What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.
SurveyOther
Survey
What is being measured
The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.
Minority barriers
The goal of this study is to highlight systemic barriers to minority advancement in anesthesia (Passed for promotion, lack of pay raises, lack of mentoring programs, how many times it happened during carrier). Responses will be reported as percentages, higher values mean barriers are more prevalent
Measured: through study completion, an average of 6 months
Timeline
From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.
- First posted5 Jan 2021
- Study start22 Dec 2020
- Primary completion31 Dec 2027 (estimated)
- Study completion31 Aug 2028 (estimated)
Resources
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govThe registry entry this page is built from, with its full change history.
- Other trials for Minority BarrierStudies of the same condition, open and under way.
- What the trial phases meanHow a treatment moves from first tests in people to approval.
More details
For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.
Study design
- Study type
- Observational
- Observational model
- Other
- Time perspective
- Prospective
- Enrolment
- 250 participants (estimated)
Sponsor and investigators
- Lead sponsor
- Tufts Medical Center
- Sponsor type
- University, hospital or other
- Collaborators
- American Society of Anesthesiologists
- Responsible party
- Sponsor
- Investigators
- Shara S Azad, MD, Study director, Tufts Medical CenterNeeti Sadana, MD, Principal investigator, Tufts Medical Center
IDs, dates and publications
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT04694339
- Sponsor's protocol ID
- STUDY00001139
- Status last verified
- Sep 2026
- First submitted
- 2 Jan 2021
- Last updated
- 5 Oct 2026
- Results posted
- No
- Data monitoring committee
- No
- FDA-regulated drug
- No
- FDA-regulated device
- No
Study at a glance
From the registry record, last updated by the sponsor on 5 Oct 2026. Recruitment status is as the sponsor reported it: confirm with the study team.
- Official title
- Minority Barriers to Professional Advancement in Anesthesia
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT04694339
- Acronym / sponsor ID
- STUDY00001139
- Study type
- Observational
- Recruitment status
- Recruiting
- Enrolment
- 250 participants (estimated)
- Lead sponsor
- Tufts Medical CenterUniversity, hospital or other
- Collaborators
- American Society of Anesthesiologists
- Study start
- 22 Dec 2020 (actual)
- Primary completion
- 31 Dec 2027 (estimated)
- Study completion
- 31 Aug 2028 (estimated)
- First posted
- 5 Jan 2021 (actual)
- Results
- Not posted in the source record
Clinical summary
The research question as the sponsor registered it. This describes what the study plans to test, not what it found.
The investigators aim to survey members of the ASA (medical students, residents, and attendings) who self-identify as minorities to assess if there are systemic barriers to minorities pursuing leadership positions. The investigators hypothesize that structural issues such as a lack of formalized mentoring programs play a role in reduced minority professional advancement.
Detailed description
Within the American Society of Anesthesiology (ASA) underrepresented minorities comprise only 6.0% of leadership. Within the ASA, women additionally only hold 21% of House of Delegates and state society officer positions, while comprising 38% of the national anesthesiology workforce.
The investigators will be using a survey via SurveyMonkey with potential for an opt-in phone or Zoom interview via the interviewee using the contact information at the bottom of the SurveyMonkey. The questions for the Survey Monkey are below. The investigators will use the Tufts HIPAA-compliant Zoom account for any Zoom interviews.
In order to deidentify the phone and Zoom interviews, investigators will not label any transcripts of the interviews with names or identifying information. The investigators will also destroy all correspondence after a time and date for the phone/Zoom interview is set.
Participants will be self-selecting for this survey. The investigators aim to email the coordinators of the ASA (medical student component, resident component, general body) who will then forward investigators' contact letter and survey to participants' constituents. Given the self-selecting nature of the survey, the investigators are not specifically targeting individuals who identify as minorities--as there are variable definitions to this term--but rather investigators will use the survey to evaluate for trends within the responses. The investigators hypothesize that gender/race/sexual orientation may play a role in career choices for individuals, which will be elucidated through the survey responses. The investigators will sort the surveys into groups to where minority identification played a large role in career versus where it did not and then calculate the trend as a percentage of the total survey responses.
The investigators recognize that it may be more possible to provide in-depth responses to the survey via a phone or Zoom interview. Therefore, investigators have included a contact information in the contact letter and the Survey Monkey and will give participants the option of doing a phone/Zoom interview instead of the Survey Monkey.
Survey Questions:
Why did you decide to pursue medicine as a career? Why anesthesia? Did gender play a role in your decision to pursue medicine? In your decision to do anesthesia? Did race play a role in your decision to pursue medicine? In your decision to do anesthesia? Do you have any regrets about your career choice? Where do you currently practice? What led you to choose that practice setting? What mentorship resources were available to you along your career path? What is a professional success you had? What is a perceived failure you may have had? How did that effect your career? What if your five-year plan? Ten-year plan? Twenty? What is a minority?
Study design
- Observational model
- Other
- Time perspective
- Prospective
Who may qualify
- Ages
- 25 to 75 years
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Not accepted
- Age groups
- Adult, Older adult
- Study population
- Medical students, residents, attending anesthesiologists, members of ASA, self-identifying as minorities
Key inclusion criteria (1 listed)
- Members of ASA, medical students, residents, attending anesthesiologists, self-identifying as minorities
Key exclusion criteria (1 listed)
- Non-ASA members
Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening; this overview does not establish that a patient qualifies. Full inclusion and exclusion criteria.
Interventions
| Intervention | Type | Arms |
|---|---|---|
| SurveySurvey | Other | – |
Primary outcome
Minority barriers
Time frame: through study completion, an average of 6 months
The goal of this study is to highlight systemic barriers to minority advancement in anesthesia (Passed for promotion, lack of pay raises, lack of mentoring programs, how many times it happened during carrier). Responses will be reported as percentages, higher values mean barriers are more prevalent
Results and safety
This study is still under way. Results are not available in the source record yet.
Research links
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govLast updated by the sponsor 5 Oct 2026.
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Referral and contact
AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals. Contact the study team or a site listed below; they decide who can take part.
Shara S Azad, MD study director
Tufts Medical Center
Neeti Sadana, MD principal investigator
Tufts Medical Center
1 site in 1 country: see every site and its status.
Questions about this trial
What is this clinical trial studying?
An observational study of Minority Barrier and Lack of Mentoring Program, run by Tufts Medical Center at 1 site in United States.
The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.
Who may be eligible to take part?
The sponsor lists 1 inclusion and 1 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.
Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?
The record says: looking for participants now, as of the sponsor's last update on 5 Oct 2026. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.
Where is the study taking place?
The record lists 1 site in United States. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.
What are the possible benefits and risks?
They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.
Are results available for this study?
This study is still under way. Results are not available in the source record yet.
How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?
Contact Iwona Bonney, PhD (617 636 9322, ibonney@tuftsmedicalcenter.org), or a site near the patient. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.
What does the primary outcome measure?
Minority barriers (time frame: through study completion, an average of 6 months). It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.
Where can I read the original study information?
Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?
No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.
How often is this information updated?
AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 5 Oct 2026.