Latinas in medicine experience high rates of discrimination throughout medical training
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Key takeaways:
- More than half of survey respondents reported negative ethnicity-based interactions from patients and/or families.
- Most respondents reported negative interactions from other individuals in the medical field.
Latinas in medicine reported high rates of discrimination and mental health struggles, especially during medical training, according to survey results published in BMC Medical Education.
Researchers hope the findings will create needed interventions to support Latinas in medical training and reduce “the existing exodus” of this population from the field of medicine.
Online survey
Studies that focus specifically on Latinas in medical training are severely lacking in the literature, leaving their experiences and specific challenges out of conversations when addressing the current state of medical training, Gabriella Geiger, BS, an MD student at University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, told Healio.
“Even with efforts to increase diversity within medicine, the percentage of practicing physicians who identify as Latina continues to be incredibly low,” Geiger continued. “This is concerning because the Hispanic/Latino population is one of the fastest growing groups in the United States, and studies have shown that racial concordance between physician and patient leads to better outcomes, making it increasingly important to increase the diversity of the physician workforce.”
For this reason, Geiger and colleagues aimed to shed light on the experiences that Latinas face during medical training and identify aspects that may be leading to attrition both during medical training and throughout the career trajectory.
Between June 22 and Aug. 12, 2022, researchers privately distributed an anonymous, 65-question, online survey via email to Latino Medical Student Association chapters across 22 medical schools nationwide, and via Twitter to women who “self-identified as a Hispanic/Latina” in the process of completing or completed medical school, residency or fellowship in the continental U.S. during the past 10 years.
The survey included multiple choice and open-ended questions that inquired about experiences during medical training, including discrimination, mental health, burnout and imposter syndrome.
Experiences
Overall, 230 Hispanic/Latina women (46.9% medical students) responded.
Results showed 54.5% (95% CI, 47.8-61.3) of respondents reported experiencing negative ethnicity-based interactions from patients and/or families, and 72.8% (95% CI, 66.6-78.9) reported experiencing negative interactions from other individuals in the medical field, especially during medical school (63.3%; 95% CI, 55.5-71.1).
Most (84.8%; 95% CI, 80-89.7) reported experiencing instances where others assumed them to be nursing staff, janitors and food service providers.
Of note, 76.2% (95% CI, 70.4-82.1) of respondents reported depression and 92.6% (95% CI, 89-96.2) reported anxiety during training.
Results also showed high rates of imposter syndrome (90.7%; 95% CI, 86.7-94.7) and burnout (87.4%; 95% CI, 82.8-91.9).
“Before analyzing the survey results, we were aware that the findings might be disheartening and reflect what other studies have touched on regarding being an underrepresented minority in medicine trainee, but we were all shocked and saddened to see that an overwhelming majority of study participants had these negative experiences and difficulties,” Geiger said. “Another surprising finding was that most participants indicated that struggles with depression, anxiety, burnout, imposter syndrome and experiences with discrimination happened most frequently during medical school. When asked to indicate when these experiences occurred, medical school was by far the phase of training where Latinas faced the most challenges.”
Researchers reported limitations of the study, including the inability to categorize the severity of depression and anxiety, as well as the unknown selection bias of the recruitment strategy.
Adequate change needed
“The findings of our study show that while recruitment of underrepresented students — specifically Latina students — has increased in the past decade or so, the culture and environment of medical education has not been reformed in a way that truly supports and advances Latinas,” Geiger told Healio.
“Without adequate change, it is likely that these repeated negative experiences during and after training can ultimately lead to more Latinas leaving training or their practice, further exacerbating the issue at hand of not having a physician workforce that accurately reflects the demographic makeup of the population it serves,” she added.
Researchers are now working on a qualitative analysis of the survey results to provide deeper insight into the experiences of Latinas in medical training in the United States.
“Additionally, given the results of our study, we are planning on distributing the manuscript to medical schools across the country,” Geiger said. “Our hope is that by giving the school personnel a perspective as to what their Latina students are facing that this will allow for their specific challenges and experiences to be taken into account when institutions are working to create a more inclusive and supportive environment that not only recruits more Latina students but helps retain and advance them as well.”
For more information:
Gabriella Geiger, BS, can be reached at ggeiger@wisc.edu.
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