Family Medicine Clerkship Preceptors’ Experiences Welcoming and Supporting Medical Students of Color

Purpose: Medical students of color (MSoC) regularly experience discrimination and mistreatment during medical school. Preceptors have the potential to provide meaningful support for MSoC while on their family medicine clerkship rotation. This mixed-method study explores family medicine clerkship preceptors’ challenges, current practices, and institutional needs related to welcoming and supporting MSoC. Methods: Any lead preceptor at a University of Washington-affiliated Family Medicine clerkship teaching site was eligible for this study. From June to September 2022, 7 focus groups were conducted with a total of 32 participants. Study team members coded transcripts for key themes related to participants’ experiences of working with MSoC. All participants were asked to complete a short survey, which included both demographic questions and questions regarding their beliefs and abilities to welcome and support MSoC. Results: Many preceptors felt underprepared and unsure about when and how to support MSoC. Current strategies employed by participants included adding a semi-scripted orientation conversation to discuss how they will be supported during the rotation and who they can talk to if they encounter any discrimination and/or microaggressions. Participants also suggested that the medical school should offer additional trainings for preceptors, such as mitigating microaggressions toward students. Conclusions: Lead preceptors are well positioned to empower and support the students they teach. This exploratory, single-institution study offers some insights into the challenges, current practices, and suggestions for institutions to support MSoC during clinical rotations. We recommend additional research to help validate our findings.