Browsing by Subject "Medical schools"

Now showing 1 - 6 of 6
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    Diversity in Mission Statements and Among Students at US Medical Schools Accredited Since 2000
    (American Medical Association, 2023-12-01) West, Kelsey; Oyoun Alsoud, Leen; Andolsek, Kathryn; Sorrell, Sara; Al Hageh, Cynthia; Ibrahim, Halah; Emergency Medicine, School of Medicine
    Importance: Diversity in the physician workforce improves patient care and decreases health disparities. Recent calls for social justice have highlighted the importance of medical school commitment to diversity and social justice, and newly established medical schools are uniquely positioned to actively fulfill the social mission of medicine. Objective: To identify diversity language in the mission statements of all medical schools accredited since 2000 and to determine whether the presence of diversity language was associated with increased diversity in the student body. Design, setting, and participants: Cross-sectional study of public websites conducted between January 6, 2023, and March 31, 2023. Qualitative content analysis of mission statements was conducted using a deductive approach. Eligible schools were identified from the 2021-2022 Medical School Admission Requirements and American Medical Colleges and American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine websites. Each school's publicly available website was also reviewed for its mission and student body demographics. All United States allopathic and osteopathic medical schools that have been accredited and have enrolled students since 2000. Exposure: Content analysis of medical school mission statements. Main outcomes and measures: Prevalence of diversity language in medical school mission statements and its association with student body racial diversity. Data were analyzed in 5-year groupings: 2001 to 2005, 2006 to 2010, 2011 to 2015, and 2016 to 2020). Results: Among the 60 new medical schools (33 [55%] allopathic and 27 [45%] osteopathic; 6927 total students), 33 (55%) incorporated diversity language into their mission statements. In 2022, American Indian or Alaska Native individuals accounted for 0.26% of students (n = 18), Black or African American students constituted 5% (n = 368), and Hispanic or Latinx individuals made up 12% (n = 840). The percentage of schools with diversity language in their mission statements did not change significantly in schools accredited across time frames (60% in 2001: mean [SE], 0.60 [0.24] vs 50% in 2020: mean [SE], 0.50 [0.11]). The percentage of White students decreased significantly over the time period (26% vs 15% students in 2001-2005 and 2016-2020, respectively; P < .001). No significant differences were observed in student body racial or ethnic composition between schools with mission statements that included diversity language and those without. Conclusions and relevance: In this cross-sectional study of US medical schools accredited since 2000, diversity language was present in approximately half of the schools' mission statements and was not associated with student body diversity. Future studies are needed to identify the barriers to increasing diversity in all medical schools.
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    Examining How Black Women Medical Students Rate Their Experiences with Medical School Mistreatment on the Aamc Graduate Questionnaire
    (Ubiquity Press, 2024-04-29) Sharp, Sacha; Priddie, Christen; Clarke, Ashley H.; Medicine, School of Medicine
    Introduction: Few researchers have examined how medical student mistreatment varies by race/ethnicity and gender, specifically highlighting Black women's experiences. Moreover, researchers often fail to use theoretical frameworks when examining the experiences of minoritized populations. The purpose of this study was to examine the frequency of mistreatment US Black women medical students experience and how this compared to other students underrepresented in medicine (URiM) using intersectionality as a theoretical framework. Methods: We used the Association of American Medical Colleges Graduate Questionnaire (GQ) as the data source for examining descriptive statistics and frequencies. We examined differences between US Black women (N = 2,537) and other URiM students (N = 7,863) with Mann-Whitney U tests. Results: The results from this study highlighted that most Black women medical students did not experience mistreatment, yet a higher proportion of these trainees reported experiencing gendered (χ2(1) = 28.59, p < .01) and racially/ethnically (χ2(1) = 2935.15, p < .01) offensive remarks at higher frequency than their URiM counterparts. We also found US Black women medical students infrequently (27.3%) reported mistreatment from a lack of confidence for advocacy on their behalf, fear of reprisal, and seeing the incident as insignificant. Discussion: A paucity of research exists on Black women medical students and even less using relevant theoretical frameworks such as intersectionality. Failure to extract Black women's experiences exacerbates alienation, invisibility, and inappropriate attention to their mistreatment.
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    Facilitators and Barriers to the Adoption of Holistic Practices for Inclusive Recruitment in Graduate Medical Education
    (Sage, 2024-06-11) Alexander, Andreia B.; Funches, Levi; Katta-Charles, Sheryl; Williamson, Francesca A.; Wright, Curtis; Kara, Areeba; Slaven, James E.; Nabhan, Zeina; Emergency Medicine, School of Medicine
    Objective: A diverse physician workforce ensures equitable care. The holistic review of residency applications is one strategy to enhance physician diversity; however, little is known about current adoption and the factors that facilitate/impede the adoption of holistic recruitment practices (HRPs) by graduate medical education (GME) residency, and fellowship program directors (PDs). To describe the current state and explore, the barriers/facilitators to the adoption of HRPs at our institution. Methods: We disseminated information about HRP within our program between 2021 and 2022. In May 2022, a survey of 73 GME PDs assessed current recruitment practices and self-reported barriers to holistic recruitment. Holistic Recruitment Scores (HRSs) reflecting the adoption of best practices were tabulated for each program and compared to identify predictors of adoption. Results: 73/80 (92%) of PDs completed the survey. Programs whose PDs had higher academic rank, total number of trainees, and female trainees in the past 3 years had higher HRSs. Program size was directly correlated with HRS. Most (93%) PDs felt their current efforts were aligned to increase diversity and 58% felt there were no barriers to the adoption of holistic review. The most reported barriers were lack of time and knowledge/expertise in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), both reported by 16 out of 73 PDs (22%). Conclusion: While most PDs implemented some HRP, institutional and departmental support of program directors through the commitment of resources (eg, staffing help and subject matter experts/coaches hiring) are crucial to overcome barriers.
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    The impact of COVID-19 on professional identity
    (Wiley, 2022) Byram, Jessica N.; Frankel, Richard M.; Isaacson, J. Harry; Mehta, Neil; Anatomy, Cell Biology and Physiology, School of Medicine
    Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound impact on medical care and medical student education as clinical rotations were halted and students' clinical activities were drastically curtailed. Learning experiences in medical school are known to promote identity formation through teamwork, reflection, and values-based community discussion. This study explored the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on medical students' professional identity formation (PIF). Methods: Students in all cohorts of medical education were invited by email in May 2020 to submit a written reflection about their learning experiences and impact of the pandemic on their PIF. We used iterative individual and team reviews, known as the "immersion/crystallisation" method, to code and analyse the data. Findings: Twenty-six students (20%) submitted reflections in which they discussed "changing conceptions of the role and image of a physician," "views about medical education," and the "role of students in a pandemic." Students viewed physicians as altruistic, effective communicators, and pledged to be like them in the future. Their perceptions of virtual learning were mixed, along with considerations of lost interactions with patients, and wanting to be more useful as professionals-in-training. Discussion: COVID-19 has impacted students' views of themselves and reshaped their ideas, both negatively and positively, about the profession they are entering and their role(s) in it. Conclusion: Exploring PIF and the impact of disruptions has allowed us to address the issues raised regarding clinical learning now and into the future. Reflection enhances PIF and unexpected events, such as COVID-19, offer opportunities for reflection and development.
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    Presence and Comprehensiveness of Antibullying Policies for Faculty at US Medical Schools
    (American Medical Association, 2022-08-01) Iyer, Maya S.; Choi, Yujung; Hobgood, Cherri; Emergency Medicine, School of Medicine
    This cross-sectional study assesses the presence and comprehensiveness of antibullying policies at top US medical schools.
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    Residency Program Directors' Views on Research Conducted During Medical School: A National Survey
    (Wolters Kluwer, 2023) Wolfson, Rachel K.; Fairchild, Paige C.; Bahner, Ingrid; Baxa, Dwayne M.; Birnbaum, Deborah R.; Chaudhry, Sarwat I.; Chretien, Katherine C.; DeFranco, Donald B.; Deptola, Amber Z.; LaConte, Leslie E. W.; Lin, Jenny J.; Petch Lee, Leslie; Powers, Maureen A.; Ropson, Ira J.; Sankaran, Saumya M.; Sawarynski, Kara E.; Sozio, Stephen M.; Graduate Medical Education, School of Medicine
    Purpose: With the United States Medical Licensing Examination Step 1 transition to pass/fail in 2022, uncertainty exists regarding how other residency application components, including research conducted during medical school, will inform interview and ranking decisions. The authors explore program director (PD) views on medical student research, the importance of disseminating that work, and the translatable skill set of research participation. Method: Surveys were distributed to all U.S. residency PDs and remained open from August to November 2021 to query the importance of research participation in assessing applicants, whether certain types of research were more valued, productivity measures that reflect meaningful research participation, and traits for which research serves as a proxy. The survey also queried whether research would be more important without a numeric Step 1 score and the importance of research vs other application components. Results: A total of 885 responses from 393 institutions were received. Ten PDs indicated that research is not considered when reviewing applicants, leaving 875 responses for analysis. Among 873 PDs (2 nonrespondents), 358 (41.0%) replied that meaningful research participation will be more important in offering interviews. A total of 164 of 304 most competitive specialties (53.9%) reported increased research importance compared with 99 of 282 competitive (35.1%) and 95 of 287 least competitive (33.1%) specialties. PDs reported that meaningful research participation demonstrated intellectual curiosity (545 [62.3%]), critical and analytical thinking skills (482 [55.1%]), and self-directed learning skills (455 [52.0%]). PDs from the most competitive specialties were significantly more likely to indicate that they value basic science research vs PDs from the least competitive specialties. Conclusions: This study demonstrates how PDs value research in their review of applicants, what they perceive research represents in an applicant, and how these views are shifting as the Step 1 exam transitions to pass/fail.