BLOG: ‘The culture of medicine must continue to evolve’
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I've been in the pursuit of becoming a physician ever since I can remember.
Throughout the majority of this pursuit, I have always felt different — never quite felt I could fit in the world of medicine.
I immigrated to the United States from Colombia when I was in high school. Naturally, the way I speak, dress and my culture have always felt vastly different from the majority of my peers. Even while living in cities with large Hispanic populations, I could not escape the fact that only 5% of physicians are Hispanic; thus, I rarely ever had any physicians like myself to look up to. I constantly felt the need to mute myself and blend in as best as possible in hopes to appear professional, educated and intelligent.
‘Muting myself’
Muting myself for so long only led me to believe that my authentic self was not good enough — not professional enough to be the type of physician patients would respect.
As I progressed in my medical training, I met other physicians of color who had told themselves that same narrative and were struggling to find themselves just as much as I was. The truth is that many of those narratives were warranted. We all shared stories of having so many moments of wanting to leave medicine after feeling left out — sometimes ridiculed simply for being ourselves.
Realizing so many underrepresented medical trainees were having this collective experience was eye-opening, heartbreaking and, in many ways, motivating to enact change.
‘Continue to evolve’
The makeup of the United States continues to evolve and diversify, and we must continue to have physicians who reflect that diversity. Pushing physicians of color out of medicine for not fitting in a very archaic medical culture is simply no longer an option.
The culture of medicine must continue to evolve.
The current status quo of physicians being unhappy, burnt out and quitting medicine is not sustainable. Being our authentic selves is key to our well-being, satisfaction and happiness. Far beyond being physicians, we are human beings with our own qualities and cultures that need to be celebrated and welcomed.
Being vulnerable and showing up as our true selves — not only to our patients but also to our colleagues — is so powerful. We must continue to fight against the inner dialogue indoctrinated in us for so many years and give ourselves grace, courage and permission to be ourselves.
We must create an environment for our colleagues, particularly those who are minorities, to feel comfortable sharing their cultures and who they are. We need to check our bias and stop punishing people for simply being themselves. The more other colleagues and the younger generation of physicians see us redefining the culture of medicine and redefining professionalism, the more they will feel encouraged to follow suit.
‘Interesting phenomenon’
There’s an interesting phenomenon that happens during medical training where our very small immediate community (colleagues, superiors, training institutions) starts feeling so much smaller than it actually is.
It is easy to lose sense of the real world — of the world outside of medicine. If one doesn’t fit in with that very specific community, it may be easy to think that medicine is not for them.
I’d tell women in medicine who are worried about fitting in to really ask themselves who exactly it is that they’re trying to fit in with.
Being their authentic selves will likely lead them to fit in much better with the majority of the world, with their patients and with other like-minded colleagues. Muting yourself is oppressive, suffocating, and will eventually lead to feeling unsatisfied and burnt out.
Don’t let an archaic system dim your light — be yourself.
Weaponization of professionalism
My colleagues and I recently published a commentary in Human Resources for Health where we aimed to highlight the critical need for inclusivity and representation in medicine. We collectively bring a rich tapestry of backgrounds and experiences to the editorial, with a team that consists of two Hispanic/Latina oncologists, one Middle Eastern oncologist, one Black/Caribbean-American hematologist and one white pre-medical student with Middle Eastern heritage. Our diverse backgrounds inform our perspectives and enhance our understanding of the complex and multifaceted nature of health care.
Our hope is to continue using all communication platforms to continue this conversation. We want to learn about ways that we can redefine professionalism, not only for the medical community but, most importantly, for ourselves as individuals. Our goal is to gather larger data from the medical community through surveys and questionnaires in the near future, and find ways to systematize change.
Reference:
For more information:
Maria Borrero, MD, is a fellow in the division of hematology/oncology at University of Minnesota. She can be reached at mariaborrero.med@gmail.com or on X (formerly known as Twitter) @DrMariaBorrero.
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