Medical Students Often Perceive Lack of Respect for Diversity Among Faculty

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, astudy published today inJAMA 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 facul ty,” 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...
Source: Psychiatr News - Category: Psychiatry Tags: academia diversity faculty JAMA Network Open Medical School Graduation Questionnaire medical students Source Type: research