Roughly one-third of Black medical students reported experiencing discrimination in medical school—the highest rates of any racial or ethnic group, according to a study published Wednesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
“Experiences of racial and ethnic discrimination influence wellness and success in medical school and are associated with depression, burnout and increased attrition rates,” the paper said. “Emerging evidence suggests that subtle acts of racial and ethnic bias in the clinical learning environment can hinder professional identity formation among medical students from racial and ethnic minority groups. These experiences are alienating, leading to feelings of discomfort and invisibility, and require constant vigilance, potentially contributing to a deleterious learning climate.”
According to the paper, discrimination against medical students is significantly associated with their diminished personal and professional development at medical schools, where Black students especially are already underrepresented. And that has implications for the larger health-care system and workforce, which is dominated by white and Asian doctors and doesn’t represent the racial diversity of patient populations—a factor experts have long said can lead to worse health outcomes.
Of the 37,610 medical students surveyed, 48.4 percent were female, 51.6 percent were male, 6.5 percent were African American or Black, 20.7 percent were Asian, 6.5 percent were Hispanic, 56.9 percent were white, 6.4 percent were multiracial and 3 percent identified as another race or ethnicity.
Black students and those of other racial and ethnic minority groups reported experiencing racial and ethnic discrimination more frequently than white students.
“African American or Black students were less likely than their white counterparts to feel that medical school contributed to their development as a person and physician,” the paper concluded. “In addition, an increase in the frequency of racial and ethnic discrimination was associated with a decreased likelihood that their medical school supported their professional and personal development.”
