Nearly 18% of graduating medical students who responded to a survey in 2016 and 2017 perceived that medical school faculty show a lack of respect for diversity, a study published today in JAMA Network Open has found.
“Our observation that a perceived lack of respect was prevalent among medical students may reflect students’ perceptions regarding faculty-patient interactions, their experiences within the overall learning environment, and the direct social interaction or lack thereof between students and faculty,” wrote Jasmine Weiss, M.D., of Yale School of Medicine and colleagues. “During each clinical encounter in a teaching context, faculty should exemplify respectful interpersonal communication and effective patient engagement despite differences in culture, beliefs, and background.”
Weiss and colleagues analyzed data from 28,778 graduating medical students who responded to the Association of American Medical Colleges’ 2016 and 2017 Medical School Graduation Questionnaire, which was administered to graduating students at 140 medical schools in the United States.
Overall, 17.7% of the respondents reported perceiving that faculty showed a lack of respect for diversity. Students who identified as Black/African American had 3.24 times the odds of perceiving a lack of respect for diversity among faculty compared with White students. Those who identified as American Indian/Alaska Native/Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, Asian, or Hispanic/Latinx also had greater odds of perceiving a lack of faculty respect for diversity compared with White students. Female students had greater odds of perceiving a lack of faculty respect for diversity compared with male students; and students who identified as lesbian, gay, or bisexual or whose sexual orientation was unknown had greater odds of perceiving a lack of faculty respect for diversity compared with heterosexual students. Students aged 33 years or older had greater odds of reporting perceived lack of faculty respect for diversity compared with students aged 26 years or younger.
“This perceived lack of respect for diversity has important implications for patient care, the learning environment, and social interactions with trainees,” the researchers wrote. “Further studies are needed to assess the mediators of students’ perceptions of faculty respect for diversity and how these perceptions may more directly impact student well-being as well as to identify optimal interventions to improve role modeling of respect for diversity among faculty.”
For related information, see the American Journal of Psychiatry articles “Dismantling Structural Racism in Academic Psychiatry to Achieve Workforce Diversity” and “Psychiatry Diversity Leadership in Academic Medicine: Guidelines for Success.”
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