Search

Background: Despite prevalent gender discrimination in medical education, its influence on personal and professional development, foundational competencies in medical training per the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), remains unclear. This retrospective cross-sectional study assesses how experiences of gender discrimination in medical school influence personal and professional identity formation (PPIF)., Methods: Deidentified student-level data were procured from the AAMC data warehouse for 37,610 MD students who matriculated in 2014-2015 and took the Graduation Questionnaire (GQ) between 2016-2020. Gender discrimination frequency was categorized as 'Never', 'Isolated', and 'Recurrent' from GQ responses to questions about denial of opportunities, offensive remarks, and lower evaluations due to gender. Gender was binarized, due to dataset limitations. PPIF was assessed using two GQ metrics, personal and professional development, and dichotomized., Results: Female students experienced higher rates of isolated (12.6%) and recurrent (20.1%) gender discrimination than males (4.3% isolated, 6.2% recurrent). Females reported slightly lower personal (71.2%) but similar professional development (92.2%) rates compared to males (73.4% personal, 91.2% professional). Both genders experiencing gender discrimination had lower likelihoods of PPIF than their counterparts without these experiences. If recurrent discrimination occurred, the aRR (95%CI) of professional development was 0.89 (0.87-0.90) for females and 0.78 (0.74-0.81) for males, while for personal development, it was 0.69 (0.67-0.71) for females and 0.61 (0.58-0.66) for males. Compared to females, males showed sharper declines in professional development as discrimination frequency increased from never to isolated (exp(b)=0.93, 95% CI [0.92-0.94], p<0.001) and isolated to recurrent (exp(b)=0.95, 95% CI [0.93-0.97], p<0.001)., Conclusions: Gender discrimination negatively influences PPIF for both female and male medical students. Efforts to combat discrimination in medical training and promote holistic student development should be considered. Future work is needed to understand the influence of gender discrimination on the comprehensive development of gender-diverse medical students., Competing Interests: Conflict of Interest Statement Alexis Webber, Mytien Nguyen, Hyacinth RC Mason, Mayur M. Desai, and Shruthi Venkataraman report no conflicts of interest. Dowin Boatright received NIH grant (R35GM153263) support. Alexandra Hajduk received NIH grants (R01 GM146147, R01 MD018928, R01 HL160822) and Burroughs-Welcome Fund travel support. Mytien received NIGMS (T32GM136651) and NIAID (F30AI157227) grant support. Sarwat Chaudhry received support from NIH/DHHS (1R01MD018928–01A1) and NIH/NIGMS (GM146147). Tonya L. Fancher received grants and consulting fees from the American Medical Association, honoraria from Montefiore School of Medicine, Yale School of Medicine, University of Minnesota School of Medicine, travel support from ACGME, and holds a leadership role with HRSA.

Background: Diversity in the physician workforce is critical for quality patient care. Students from low-income backgrounds represent an increasing proportion of medical school matriculants, yet little research has addressed their medical school experiences., Objective: To explore the medical school experiences of students from low-income backgrounds using a modified version of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs (physiologic, safety, love/belonging, esteem, and self-actualization) as a theoretical framework., Design: We conducted an exploratory qualitative study through in-depth, semi-structured interviews., Participants: Forty-two low-income medical students attending US-based MD or DO degree-granting institutions., Approach: We conducted a content analysis of interview transcripts using deductive and inductive coding. We discussed our independent analyses to reach consensus and shared findings with a subgroup of participants for member checking., Results: Participants described substantial challenges in meeting their basic needs. Unmet physiologic needs included food insecurity, lack of adequate sleep/rest, and poor mental health. Unmet safety needs included lack of reliable transportation and safe housing; threats to financial safety included debt and an inability to cover both medical education-related and non-medical education-related expenses. Unmet belonging needs included difficulty connecting with peers or participating in financially inaccessible social activities. Unmet respect/esteem needs stemmed from bias from peers, teachers, and institutions. Unmet self-actualization needs were uncommon. Participants felt pride in their medical journey; however, some perceived that their financial struggles hindered them from realizing their full potential., Conclusions: Previously reported attrition and adverse academic outcomes among low-income students may be linked to challenges they experience trying to more fully meet important human needs. This finding underscores the need to approach wellness holistically and ensure students do not exist in a prolonged state of unmet needs. Recommendations that accreditation bodies and medical schools could implement to promote tailored support for low-income and other marginalized learners are provided., Competing Interests: Declarations:. None Ethical Approval:: All procedures were performed in accordance with the ethical standards of the Institutional Review Board (IRB) at Yale School of Medicine (myIRB#2000028071). Conflicts of Interest:: The authors have no relevant conflicts of interest to disclose. ICJME conflict of interest forms have been completed and are available upon request. Disclaimers:: This work was prepared by a civilian employee of the US Government as part of the individual’s official duties and therefore is in the public domain. The opinions and assertions expressed herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Uniformed Services University or the US Department of Defense., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Society of General Internal Medicine.)

Importance: Investigating racial and ethnic discrimination in medical education is crucial for addressing disparities and fostering an inclusive environment., Objective: To assess how racial and ethnic discrimination in medical school is associated with personal and professional identity formation (PPIF) by race and ethnicity., Design, Setting, and Participants: This retrospective cross-sectional study used deidentified data on 37 610 medical students who matriculated in 2014 or 2015 and took the Association of American Medical Colleges Graduation Questionnaire (GQ) between 2016 and 2020. Statistical analysis was performed from September 1 to November 20, 2023., Exposures: Experiences of racial and ethnic discrimination were assessed through responses to 3 GQ questions about denial of opportunities, offensive remarks or names, and lower evaluations or grades due to race or ethnicity., Main Outcomes and Measures: Personal and professional development were measured as 2 separate outcomes using 2 GQ statements rated on a 5-point Likert scale (where 1 indicated strongly disagree and 5 indicated strongly agree): "My medical school has done a good job fostering and nurturing my development as a person" and "My medical school has done a good job fostering and nurturing my development as a physician." Variables of personal and professional development were both dichotomized., Results: Of 37 610 medical students, 18 200 (48.4%) were female, and 19 410 (51.6%) were male; 2458 (6.5%) were African American or Black, 7801 (20.7%) were Asian, 2430 (6.5%) were Hispanic, 21 380 (56.9%) were White, 2404 (6.4%) were multiracial, and 1137 (3%) were other race or ethnicity. Most respondents attested that their medical school fostered their personal (27 272 [72.5%]) and professional (34 560 [91.9%]) development. African American or Black students reported the lowest rates of personal (1603 of 2458 [65.2%]) and professional (2182 of 2458 [88.8%]) development, and experienced lower likelihoods of personal (adjusted risk ratio [ARR], 0.89 [95% CI, 0.86-0.93]) and professional (ARR, 0.95 [95% CI, 0.94-0.97]) development than White students. Racial discrimination was inversely associated with development, with the highest PPIF rates among those never experiencing discrimination (personal, 25 089 of 33 508 [74.9%]; and professional, 31 257 of 33 508 [93.3%]). Those experiencing isolated discrimination (personal: ARR, 0.83 [95% CI, 0.80-0.87]; professional: ARR, 0.92 [95% CI, 0.91-0.95]) and recurrent discrimination (personal: ARR, 0.63 [95% CI, 0.60-0.66]; professional: ARR, 0.82 [95% CI, 0.80-0.84]) had relatively lower likelihoods of PPIF. African American or Black students experienced the highest rate of recurrent discrimination (543 of 2458 [22.1%]). No significant PPIF risk differences were found for other racial and ethnic groups underrepresented in medicine without discrimination compared with White students without discrimination, but all groups with recurrent discrimination had relatively lower PPIF risk., Conclusions and Relevance: In this cross-sectional study of US medical students, racial and ethnic discrimination was associated with lower PPIF across all racial and ethnic groups compared with White students without such experiences. African American or Black students disproportionately faced this discrimination. Systemic changes in medical education are needed to combat discrimination and ensure equity in holistic student development.

Importance: First-generation (FG) medical students remain underrepresented in medicine despite ongoing national efforts to increase diversity; understanding the challenges faced by this student population is essential to building holistic policies, practices, and learning environments that promote professional actualization. Although FG students have been extensively studied in the undergraduate literature, there is little research investigating how FG students experience medical education or opportunities for educators to intervene., Objective: To explore challenges that FG students experience in undergraduate medical education and identify opportunities to improve foundational FG support., Design, Setting, and Participants: This qualitative study was conducted using an online platform with 37 FG students enrolled in 27 US medical schools. An interprofessional team of medical educators and trainees conducted semistructured interviews from November 2021 through April 2022. Participants were recruited using a medical student listserv. Data were analyzed from April to November 2022., Main Outcomes and Measures: After conducting a preliminary analysis using open coding, a codebook was created and used in a thematic analysis; the codebook used a combination of deductive and inductive coding., Results: Among the 37 students recruited for this study, 21 (56.8%) were female; 23 (62.2%) were in the clinical phase of training; 1 (2.7%) was American Indian or Alaska Native, 7 (18.9%) were Hispanic, Latino, or of Spanish origin, 8 (21.6%) were non-Hispanic Asian or Asian American, 9 (24.3%) were non-Hispanic Black or African American, and 23 (32.4%) were non-Hispanic White; mean (SD) age was 27.3 (2.8) years. Participants described 4 major themes: (1) isolation and exclusion related to being a newcomer to medicine; (2) difficulty with access to basic resources (eg, food, rent, transportation) as well as educational (eg, books); (3) overall lack of faculty or institutional support to address these challenges; and (4) a sense of needing to rely on grit and resilience to survive., Conclusions and Relevance: Although grit and resilience are desirable traits, results of this study suggest that FG medical students face increased adversity with inadequate institutional support, which forces them to excessively rely on grit and resilience as survival (rather than educational) strategies. By applying the holistic model often used in admissions to the postmatriculation educational process, targeted and flexible initiatives can be created for FG students so that all students, regardless of background, can achieve robust professional actualization.

Improving the number of plastic and reconstructive surgeons who provide care to patients in underserved communities is critical to achieving health equity. We aimed to identify factors associated with graduating medical students' intentions to pursue plastic surgery and practice in underserved areas., Methods: De-identified data for US medical school graduates were obtained from the Association of American Medical Colleges for students who matriculated in academic years 2007-2008 and 2011-2012. Data collected included self-reported demographic and future practice intentions. Multivariate analysis was conducted to determine indicators of students' interest in plastic surgery, and their intention to practice in underserved areas., Results: Of the 57,307 graduating US medical students in our cohort who completed the Graduation Questionnaire, 532 (0.9%) reported an intention to pursue plastic surgery. Hispanic [adjusted odds ratio (aOR): 1.45; 95% confidence interval (95% CI), 1.07-1.98] and multiracial (aOR: 1.59; 95% CI, 1.03-2.45) students were more likely to pursue plastic surgery compared with other surgical specialties. Among students interested in plastic surgery, compared with non-Hispanic White students, Black (aOR: 6.15; 95% CI, 1.96-19.26) students were more likely to report intention to practice in underserved areas. Students with community-engagement experiences were more likely to report intention to practice in underserved areas., Conclusions: Diversity among medical trainees pursuing plastic and reconstructive surgery is critical for maintaining and expanding plastic surgery services rendered in underserved areas. These findings suggest that student demographics and experiences with community-engagement experiences are positive indicators of practicing in underserved communities., Competing Interests: Ms. Nguyen is supported by NIH Medical Scientist Training Program Training Grant T32GM136651 and F30AI157227. Dr. Jeffe is supported by NIH grant R01GM085350. Dr. Butler is immediate past chair of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) Committee. All the other authors have no financial interest to declare in relation to the content of this article., (Copyright © 2023 The Authors. Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. on behalf of The American Society of Plastic Surgeons.)

Purpose: The authors aimed to gain a better understanding of students' and teachers' perspectives about whether clinical clerkship feedback is provided equitably irrespective of a student's race/ethnicity., Method: A secondary analysis of existing interview data was conducted, focusing on racial/ethnic disparities in clinical grading. Data had been acquired from 29 students and 30 teachers at 3 U.S. medical schools. The authors performed secondary coding on all 59 transcripts, writing memos focused on statements related to aspects of feedback equity and developing a template for coding students' and teachers' observations and descriptions specific to clinical feedback. Using the template, memos were coded, and thematic categories emerged describing perspectives on clinical feedback., Results: Forty-eight (22 teachers and 26 students) participants' transcripts provided narratives about feedback. Both student and teacher narratives described how students who are racially/ethnically underrepresented in medicine may receive less helpful formative clinical feedback needed for professional development. Thematic analysis of narratives yielded 3 themes related to feedback inequities: 1) teachers' racial/ethnic biases influence the feedback they provide students, 2) teachers have limited skill sets to provide equitable feedback, and 3) racial/ethnic inequities in the clinical learning environment shape clinical and feedback experiences., Conclusions: Narratives indicated that both students and teachers perceived racial/ethnic inequities in clinical feedback. Teacher- and learning environment-related factors influenced these racial/ethnic inequities. These results can inform medical education's efforts to mitigate biases in the learning environment and provide equitable feedback to ensure every student has what they need to develop into the competent physician they aspire to be., (Copyright © 2023 by the Association of American Medical Colleges.)

Physician shortages across the United States will affect access to orthopaedic care for patients. Orthopaedic surgery is predicted to have one of the largest shortages among surgical subspecialties by 2025, which will disproportionally affect patients in medically underserved areas. This study examines characteristics and experiences of graduating medical students interested in orthopaedic surgery who intend to practice in underserved areas (IPUAs)., Methods: We analyzed deidentified data of AAMC Graduation Questionnaire respondents who matriculated between 2007 to 2008 and 2011 to 2012. Forty-eight thousand ninety-six (83.91%) had complete demographic, financial, and medical school elective data and were included in the study cohort. Multivariable logistic regression was performed to determine the correlation between student characteristics and intention to pursue orthopaedic surgery and IPUAs., Results: Of the 48,096 students with complete information, 2,517 (5.2%) intended to pursue a career in orthopaedic surgery. Among the orthopaedic students, men were less likely than women to report IPUAs (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 0.6; 95% CI, 0.4-0.8). Students who identified as Black/African American (aOR, 5.0; 95% CI, 3.0-8.2) or Hispanic (aOR, 2.0; 95% CI, 1.1-3.5) were more likely than White students to report IPUAs. Medical students who intend to pursue orthopaedics and received a scholarship (aOR, 1.5; 95% CI, 1.1-2.0), participated in community research (aOR, 1.8; 95% CI, 1.4-2.3), or had a global health experience (aOR, 1.9; 95% CI, 1.5-2.5) were more likely to report IPUAs., Discussion: If orthopaedic surgeons who reported as medical students who reported IPUAs actually do so, recruiting and retaining more sex and race/ethnically diverse orthopaedic surgeons could reduce the impact of the impending shortage of orthopaedic surgeons in underserved areas. IPUA is correlated to medical school experiences related to cultural competency including global health experiences and community-based research projects., Competing Interests: Disclosure: The Disclosure of Potential Conflicts of Interest forms are provided with the online version of the article (http://links.lww.com/JBJSOA/A450)., (Copyright © 2023 The Authors. Published by The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, Incorporated. All rights reserved.)

Many U.S. medical schools conduct holistic review of applicants to enhance the socioeconomic and experiential diversity of the physician workforce. The authors examined the role of first-generation college-graduate status on U.S. medical school application, acceptance, and matriculation, hypothesizing that first-generation (vs. continuing-generation) college graduates would be less likely to apply and gain acceptance to medical school.Secondary analysis of de-identified data from a retrospective national-cohort study was conducted for individuals who completed the 2001-2006 Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) Pre-Medical College Admission Test Questionnaire (PMQ) and the Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT). AAMC provided medical school application, acceptance, and matriculation data through 06/09/2013. Multivariable logistic regression models identified demographic, academic, and experiential variables independently associated with each outcome and differences between first-generation and continuing-generation students. Of 262,813 PMQ respondents, 211,216 (80.4%) MCAT examinees had complete data for analysis and 24.8% self-identified as first-generation college graduates. Of these, 142,847 (67.6%) applied to U.S. MD-degree-granting medical schools, of whom 86,486 (60.5%) were accepted, including 14,708 (17.0%) first-generation graduates; 84,844 (98.1%) acceptees matriculated. Adjusting for all variables, first-generation (vs. continuing-generation) college graduates were less likely to apply (odds ratio [aOR] 0.84; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.82-0.86) and be accepted (aOR 0.86; 95% CI, 0.83-0.88) to medical school; accepted first-generation college graduates were as likely as their continuing-generation peers to matriculate. Students with (vs. without) paid work experience outside hospitals/labs/clinics were less likely to apply, be accepted, and matriculate into medical school. Increased efforts to mitigate structural socioeconomic vulnerabilities that may prevent first-generation college students from applying to medical school are needed. Expanded use of holistic review admissions practices may help decision makers value the strengths first-generation college graduates and other underrepresented applicants bring to medical educationand the physician workforce.

Purpose: Racial/ethnic disparities exist in clinical clerkship grading, yet little is known about medical student and faculty perspectives on why these disparities occur. This study explored what happens during clerkships that might explain grading disparities., Method: Medical students and clerkship teachers at 3 U.S. medical schools completed a demographic survey and semistructured interview. The constant comparative method was used to analyze transcripts by inductively developing codes; grouping codes in categories; and refining codes, descriptions, and group assignments to identify themes. Interpretations of and relationships among themes were iteratively discussed to develop a grounded theory., Results: Fifty-nine participants (29 medical students, 30 teachers [28 clinical faculty, 2 residents]) were interviewed in 2020. The Social Milieu of Medical Education (relationships, fit, opportunities, and judgments in the clinical-learning setting) was the organizing theme, influenced by 5 additional themes: Societal Influence (experiences in society), Students' Characteristics and Background (personal characteristics and experiences outside medical school), Assessment Processes (collection of student performance data and how data inform grades), Learning Environment (resources available and messaging within the clinical setting), and Students' Interactions and Reactions (interactions with and reactions to peers and teachers). The grounded theory highlights complex, multilayered aspects of how the social milieu of medical education is shaped by and shapes students' experiences, relationships, and clerkship assessments and promotes clerkship-grading disparities., Conclusions: Mitigating clerkship-grading disparities will require intervening on interrelated, contextual factors to provide equitable opportunities for students from diverse backgrounds and with varying styles of engagement in clinical-learning settings, along with attending to modifying assessment processes., (Copyright © 2022 by the Association of American Medical Colleges.)

Importance: Diverse research teams are critical to solving complex health problems and producing high-quality medical research., Objective: To examine the associations of student sex and racial and ethnic identity with publication rates during medical school., Design, Setting, and Participants: This cohort study assessed individual-level data of US MD graduates from medical school who matriculated in academic years 2014 to 2015 and 2015 to 2016. Data were obtained from the Association of American Medical Colleges and analyzed from October 2021 to January 2022., Main Outcomes and Measures: Outcomes of interest included students' self-reported participation in unique research experiences, number of publications, and computed publications per research experience. Poisson regressions were constructed to determine the association of sex and racial and ethnic identity with research outcomes using adjusted rate ratios (aRRs)., Results: Among 31 474 graduates, 15 159 (48.2%) identified as women and 4344 (13.8%) identified as underrepresented in medicine by race and ethnicity (URIM; including American Indian, Alaska Native, Black, Hawaiian Native, Hispanic/Latinx, and Pacific Islander individuals). Students who attended National Institutes of Health (NIH) top 40 research-ranked schools reported higher number of research experiences and publication counts, resulting in a higher publication rate compared with students from non-top 40 schools (median [IQR] 1.60 [1.00-3.00] vs 1.25 [0.50-2.33]; P < .001). Women reported a higher number of research experiences than men but a significantly lower number of publications (top 40 schools: aRR, 0.89; 95% CI, 0.87-0.90; non-top 40 schools: aRR, 0.93; 95% CI, 0.92-0.95). This resulted in a significantly lower publication rate among women (top 40 schools: aRR, 0.85; 95% CI, 0.83-0.86; non-top 40 schools: aRR, 0.91; 95% CI, 0.90-0.92). Compared with White students, Asian students had higher publication rates at both NIH top 40 schools (aRR, 1.10; 95% CI, 1.08-1.12) and non-top 40 schools (aRR, 1.07; 95% CI, 1.05-1.08), while lower publication rates were reported among Black students (top 40 schools: aRR, 0.83; 95% CI, 0.80-0.86; non-top 40 schools: aRR, 0.88; 95% CI, 0.85-0.95) and Hispanic students attending non-top 40 schools (aRR, 0.93; 95% CI, 0.90-0.95)., Conclusions and Relevance: These findings illustrate that inequities in the physician-scientist workforce began early in training and highlight key areas for intervention, such as funding support and mentorship training during undergraduate medical education, that may promote the future success of a diverse physician-scientist workforce.

Importance: Diversity in the medical workforce is critical to improve health care access and achieve equity for resource-limited communities. Despite increased efforts to recruit diverse medical trainees, there remains a large chasm between the racial and ethnic and socioeconomic composition of the patient population and that of the physician workforce., Objective: To analyze student attrition from medical school by sociodemographic identities., Design, Setting, and Participants: This retrospective cohort study included allopathic doctor of medicine (MD)-only US medical school matriculants in academic years 2014-2015 and 2015-2016. The analysis was performed from July to September 2021., Main Outcomes and Measures: The main outcome was attrition, defined as withdrawal or dismissal from medical school for any reason. Attrition rate was explored across 3 self-reported marginalized identities: underrepresented in medicine (URiM) race and ethnicity, low income, and underresourced neighborhood status. Logistic regression was assessed for each marginalized identity and intersections across the 3 identities., Results: Among 33 389 allopathic MD-only medical school matriculants (51.8% male), 938 (2.8%) experienced attrition from medical school within 5 years. Compared with non-Hispanic White students (423 of 18 213 [2.3%]), those without low income (593 of 25 205 [2.3%]), and those who did not grow up in an underresourced neighborhood (661 of 27 487 [2.4%]), students who were URiM (Hispanic [110 of 2096 (5.2%); adjusted odds ratio (aOR), 1.41; 95% CI, 1.13-1.77], non-Hispanic American Indian/Alaska Native/Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander [13 of 118 (11.0%); aOR, 3.20; 95% CI, 1.76-5.80], and non-Hispanic Black/African American [120 of 2104 (5.7%); aOR, 1.41; 95% CI, 1.13-1.77]), those who had low income (345 of 8184 [4.2%]; aOR, 1.33; 95% CI, 1.15-1.54), and those from an underresourced neighborhood (277 of 5902 [4.6%]; aOR, 1.35; 95% CI, 1.16-1.58) were more likely to experience attrition from medical school. The rate of attrition from medical school was greatest among students with all 3 marginalized identities (ie, URiM, low income, and from an underresourced neighborhood), with an attrition rate 3.7 times higher than that among students who were not URiM, did not have low income, and were not from an underresourced neighborhood (7.3% [79 of 1086] vs 1.9% [397 of 20 353]; P < .001)., Conclusions and Relevance: This retrospective cohort study demonstrated a significant association of medical student attrition with individual (race and ethnicity and family income) and structural (growing up in an underresourced neighborhood) measures of marginalization. The findings highlight a need to retain students from marginalized groups in medical school.

Introduction: Burmese patients resettled in the United States as refugees constitute one of the country's largest refugee populations. As health inequities within the wider Asian and Asian American population have garnered more attention, medical professionals have worked to better understand how to provide care to Burmese and Burmese American patients. This workshop addresses the pressing need to provide culturally responsive care to this growing population., Methods: Our interactive 60-minute workshop was developed to increase the knowledge and confidence of health care providers and trainees regarding the specific needs of Burmese communities in the United States. It was implemented once in person and twice virtually. The workshop included a PowerPoint presentation and case studies. Pre- and postworkshop evaluation forms assessed the effectiveness of the module., Results: The workshop's 70 attendees included an interdisciplinary group of medical students, academic faculty, graduate students, and health care staff. Following module completion, all learning objectives were met. Paired-samples t tests revealed significant increases in average number of correct responses for all learning objectives., Discussion: This module is part of a larger initiative to provide current and future health care providers with information to empower them to supply culturally responsive care to Burmese and Burmese American patients and their families. We offer recommendations for improving care for this patient population on individual, provider, and systemic levels. We hope that this module will inspire opportunities to advocate for change in policy and health care/research funding for Burmese and Burmese American patients., (© 2022 Wang et al.)

Importance: The surgical workforce shortage is a threat to promoting health equity in medically underserved areas. Although the Health Resources and Services Administration and the American College of Surgeons have called to increase the surgical pipeline for trainees to mitigate this shortage, the demographic factors associated with students' intention to practice in underserved areas is unknown., Objective: To evaluate the association between students' demographics and medical school experiences with intention to pursue surgery and practice in underserved areas., Design, Setting, and Participants: This cross-sectional study surveyed graduating US allopathic medical students who matriculated between 2007-2008 and 2011-2012. Analysis began June 2020 and ended December 2020., Main Outcomes and Measures: Intention to pursue surgery and practice in underserved areas were retrieved from the Association of American Medical Colleges graduation questionnaire. Logistic regression models were constructed to evaluate (1) the association between demographic factors and medical students' intention to pursue surgical specialties vs medical specialties and (2) the association between demographic factors and medical school electives with intention to practice in underserved areas., Results: Among 57 307 students who completed the graduation questionnaire, 48 096 (83.9%) had complete demographic data and were included in the study cohort. The mean (SD) age at matriculation was 23.4 (2.5) years. Compared with students who reported intent to pursue nonsurgical careers, a lower proportion of students who reported intent to pursue a surgical specialty identified as female (3264 [32.4%] vs 19 731 [51.9%]; χ2 P < .001). Multiracial Black and White students (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 1.72; 95% CI, 1.11-2.65) were more likely to report an intent for surgery compared with White students. Among students who reported an intention to pursue surgery, Black/African American students (aOR, 3.24; 95% CI, 2.49-4.22), Hispanic students (aOR, 2.00; 95% CI, 1.61-2.47), multiracial Black and White students (aOR, 2.27; 95% CI, 1.03-5.01), and Indian/Pakistani students (aOR, 1.31; 95% CI, 1.02-1.69) were more likely than White students to report an intent to practice in underserved areas. Students who reported participating in community health (aOR, 1.61; 95% CI, 1.42-1.83) or global health (aOR, 1.83; 95% CI, 1.61-2.07) experiences were more likely to report an intention to practice in underserved areas., Conclusions and Relevance: This study suggests that diversifying the surgical training pipeline and incorporating health disparity and community health in undergraduate or graduate medical education may promote students' motivation to practice in underserved areas.

Objectives: Emergency departments serve a wide variety of racial, ethnic, socioeconomic, and gender backgrounds. It is currently unknown what characteristics of students who express interest in emergency medicine (EM) are associated with a simultaneous desire to work in medically underserved areas. We hypothesize that those who are underrepresented in medicine, are female, learn another language, and have more student debt will be more likely to practice in a medically underserved area., Methods: Data from the National Board of Medical Examiners, Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) Student Record System, and the AAMC Graduation Questionnaire were collected on a national cohort of 92,013 U.S. medical students who matriculated from 2007 through 2012. Extracted variables included planned practice area, intention to practice in underserved areas, race/ethnicity, sex, medical school experiences, age at matriculation, debt at graduation, and first-attempt USMLE Step 1 score., Results: EM-intending students who identified as female, non-Hispanic Black/African American, or Latinx/Hispanic; had a larger debt at graduation; had experiences with health education in the community; had global health experience; and had learned more than one language were more likely to report an intention to practice in underserved areas., Conclusion: With the increasing importance of physician diversity to match those of the community being served, this study identifies factors associated with a desire of EM students to work in underserved areas. Medical schools and EM residencies may wish to consider these factors in their admissions process., Competing Interests: The authors have no potential conflicts to disclose., (© 2021 by the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine.)

Introduction: Despite significant health care reform in the past 10 years, health disparities persist in marginalized and low-resource communities. Although there are a lot of reasons for health disparities, many of which are not related to health care, changes in health policy can lead to improved health equity. Redefining health policy as an important aspect of medical education could popularize the teaching and application of health policy competencies within academic health centers., Methods: The Kern model was applied to develop a workshop to educate medical students on basic health policy concepts and opportunities for them to apply a health policy framework to facilitate organizational change. Specifically, the workshop helped trainees to define common concepts in health policy, to understand a framework for developing policy initiatives, and to identify areas of overlap between health policy and academic medicine. Instructional methods included a PowerPoint presentation, vignette-based small-group discussion, and career reflection., Results: The workshop was implemented at three national conferences with a total of 144 participants. Comparing pre- and postworkshop survey responses, participants felt health policy work was compatible with an academic medicine career. Over 95% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that each objective had been met., Discussion: By viewing health policy through the lens of academia, trainees were able to develop a new appreciation for how health policy activities can contribute to peer-reviewed publications, teaching, and leadership opportunities. Participants were better situated to integrate health policy skills in their academic or nonacademic careers., Competing Interests: None to report.

Background: Research on student wellness has highlighted the importance of self-care for medical students; however, scholars have yet to identify the extent to which self-reported engagement in self-care behaviors is associated with attenuation of the negative relationship between stress and quality of life during the initial years of medical education., Methods: Using a self-report survey designed to measure self-care, perceived stress, and quality of life, we hypothesized that self-care would moderate the relationship between stress and psychological quality of life in medical students, as well as stress and physical quality of life. An online questionnaire was completed by 871 medical students representing 49 allopathic medical colleges throughout the U.S. between December 2015 and March 2016. The survey assessed perceived stress, self-care, quality of life and a variety of demographic variables. Regression analyses were used to assess interaction effects of self-care on the relationships between stress and quality of life., Results: Self-reported engagement in self-care appeared to moderate the relationships between perceived stress and both physical (p < .001) and psychological (p = .002) quality of life. As the level of reported engagement in self-care increased, the strength of the inverse relationship between perceived stress and both physical and psychological quality of life appeared to weaken., Conclusions: Our findings suggest that self-reported engagement in self-care activities is associated with a decrease in the strength of the relationship between perceived stress and quality of life in medical students. Students who disclose utilizing a multitude of self-care practices throughout their training may also sustain greater resiliency and lower risk for higher levels of distress during medical education.

Phenomenon: Despite the promotion of medical student health and wellness through recent program and curricular changes, research continues to show that medical education is associated with decreased well-being in medical students. Although many institutions have sought to more effectively assess and improve self-care in medical students, no self-care initiatives have been designed using the explicit perspectives of students themselves., Approach: Using concept mapping methodology, the research team created a student-generated taxonomy of self-care behaviors taken from a national sample of medical students in response to a brainstorming prompt. The research team examined how students' conceptualizations of self-care may be organized into a framework suitable for use in programming and curricular change in medical education., Findings: Ten clusters of self-care activities were identified: nourishment, hygiene, intellectual and creative health, physical activity, spiritual care, balance and relaxation, time for loved ones, big picture goals, pleasure and outside activities, and hobbies. Using results of the two-dimensional scaling analysis, students' individual self-care behaviors were organized within two orthogonal dimensions of self-care activities. Insights: This concept map of student-identified self-care activities provides a starting point for better understanding and ultimately improving medical student self-care. Students' brainstormed responses fit within a framework of varying levels of social engagement and physical-psychological health that included a wide range of solitary, social, physical, and mental health behaviors. As students' preferred self-care practices did not often include programmatic activities, medical educators may benefit from consulting this map as they plan new approaches to student self-care and in counseling individual students searching for more effective ways to ease the burdens of medical school.

Background: Research regarding the health and wellness of medical students has led to ongoing concerns regarding patterns of alcohol and drug use that take place during medical education. Such research, however, is typically limited to single-institution studies or has been conducted over 25 years ago., Objective: The objective of the investigation was to assess the prevalence and consequences of medical student alcohol and drug use and students' perceptions of their medical school's substance-use policies., Design: A total of 855 medical students representing 49 medical colleges throughout the United States participated in an online survey between December 2015 and March 2016., Results: Data showed that 91.3% and 26.2% of medical students consumed alcohol and used marijuana respectively in the past year, and 33.8% of medical students consumed five or more drinks in one sitting in the past two weeks. Differences in use emerged regarding demographic characteristics of students. Consequences of alcohol and drug use in this sample of medical students included but were not limited to interpersonal altercations, serious suicidal ideation, cognitive deficits, compromised academic performance, and driving under the influence of substances. Forty percent of medical students reported being unaware of their medical institution's substance-use policies., Conclusions: Findings suggest that substance use among medical students in the US is ongoing and associated with consequences in various domains. There is a lack of familiarity regarding school substance-use policies. Although there has been some progress in characterizing medical student alcohol use, less is known about the factors surrounding medical students' use of other substances. Updated, comprehensive studies on the patterns of medical student substance use are needed if we are to make the necessary changes needed to effectively prevent substance-use disorders among medical students and support those who are in need of help.