Dr. Burkhardt's scholarship has included areas such as recruitment, admissions, selection of residents, curriculum, and assessment. He has chosen these areas due to a belief that there is a current mismatch between the stated goals of inclusion in the medical profession and the preparation of physicians to meet looming needs in areas of specialization, the documented needs of traditionally under-served medical populations, and the way in which medicine selects, recruits, and trains medical students and residents. To address these issues in a novel manner, he also has expanded his research to include examining the effect of educational diversity on health care delivery in order to frame medical education as an underutilized lever in healthcare disparities amelioration.