Exigence: What biases, if any, still exist in medical education to cause such a great divide in healthcare specialties via

a race and gender? I think this question is very important to ask because it reflects on the progress of our society as a whole. In the 21st century, why is it that white males still vastly dominate certain specialties of medicine, such as surgery, emergency medicine, and cardiology? This question leads to a more in depth analysis of our socioeconomic and scholastic standing. Are schools discouraging people of color or women to become top physicians? Or is this due to a greater problem? For example, is the medias portrayal of various races and genders influencing Americas overall idea of who should succeed in medical school and who shouldnt? In the year 2020, there is estimated to be a shortage of 90,000 doctors in the United States while at the same time, more and more people are to be insured for healthcare under new legislation. America cant afford to subliminally encourage only a specific type of person to enter the health field. We need to expand our views on medical education and eliminate any prejudices that may still be present. Inquiry: What is the relationship between discrimination in medical education and the lacking diversity of physicians in top healthcare specialties? 1. Do these biases originate from the United States educational system or a greater determinant such as social media? 2. How does the amount of diverse physicians in more specialized areas of medicine compare to those of other countries? 3. What other factors could contribute to the lacking diversity in surgery, emergency medicine, and cardiology? (Such as, are more women and minorities first-generation college students than white males? How does this effect one furthering their education?) Do educational programs meant to aid minorities and females in obtaining a medical degree result in greater matriculation rates in these populations? Or does this simply bring more discrimination by being viewed as giving minorities and women special treatment? In my opinion, medicines acceptance of minorities and women has improved drastically in the past few decades. I spent this past summer at Duke University in a pre-med program for minorities called SMDEP (how I got in, I still have no idea). For six weeks, eighty of us from across the nation lived together, took classes together, and shadowed in the hospital together. From my experience, the majority of blatant forms of racism and/or sexism have been exterminated. Yet there still persists a subconscious output of biases. While shadowing in the hospital, physicians paid slightly more attention to pupils with their own skin color and shared gender. Many times, Id walk to the unit I was to shadow in with my male counterparts, and be singled out by

Marissa Bare Burchette

an attending, asking if I was participating in a nursing program. Frequently, older patients request a specific type of physician to be placed on their service. Many are uncomfortable with a female or minority doctor treating them. From my own personal experience, Ive discovered that there is a subtle backlash from society accepting females as doctors as well. When I tell older people Im pre-med, they typically ask questions such as, How do you plan on taking care of your future children and husband? Simply assuming my whole life goal is to be married and become a housewife when its clearly not. The younger generations response is to use the get back in the kitchen and ball-buster jokes. Once I was even told by an ex that if things were to work out between us, he didnt feel comfortable with me making more money than him and wished I wouldnt become a physician. Overall, I think my personal experience as a female pre-med and my summer at Duke inspired me to dig deeper into the subject of biases in medicine. Within the program, none of my friends nor I experienced any discrimination. Yet in the real world, while within the hospital walls, racial and sexist prejudice was clearly evident. I will attempt to keep these negative experiences from impacting my research by obtaining statistical data and asking others within the profession their views on the subject. Method: I feel as if the sources Ive listed below are the most reliable sources of data I can collect because AAMC and AMSA are both nationally accredited medical organizations. Each year AAMC records the diversity in matriculating classes and also the residential specialties the graduating class are accepted into for the following year. I referenced Ms. Cullins because shes on the admissions committee at Duke Universitys Medical School and has had much experience advising future physicians. Research Tools: 1. AAMCs Research Specialty Data 2. AMSAs medical statistics on diversity 3. Interviewing Ms. Cullins (Director of the Multicultural Resource Center at the Duke School of Medicine) For this project, I think it is important to clarify how I plan to measure discrimination in the medical field. By analyzing statistical data, first the number of matriculating women and minority students, second the number of these who graduate and go into white male dominated specialties, and lastly finding what percentage of these physicians continue from residency into more a specialized fellowship program, Ill be able to see if there are specific patterns reflected in this analysis. I could then compare these findings to those of other countrys healthcare programs to see how they differ. Measuring discrimination in the United States medical education is difficult, but if concrete evidence supports my guess that biases still exists, I

could use personal accounts from healthcare providers to support my findings. Also I could create a survey for pre-meds to take that could help discover if undergrads have personally experienced bias because of their chosen career path. This could help support, at least on a small demographic level, that discrimination is still prevalent. Project Timeline: September 27th- Create survey online and send out to UNCCs premed community & to Dukes SMDEP alumni. September 29th- Calculate pre-med, matriculation, & specialty rates from AAMC website and place in chart form. October 2nd- Contact Ms. Cullins for an interview. October 4th- Collect survey data and analyze. October 6th- Prepare annotated bibliography. October 11th- Begin organizing data and researching personal stories to support these findings. October 13th- Propose alternative hypotheses. October 18th- Format research to present. October 20th- Cite sources. October 25th- Finish project early in case it needs to be revised.

guides.library.uncc.edu/ENGL_1102 Other Resources: CQ Researcher Online Points of View Reference Center

Annotated Bibliography American Medical Student Association. (2013). Enriching Medicine Through Diversity. http://www.amsa.org/AMSA/Homepage/Priorities/Diversity. October 9, 2013. Association of American Medical Colleges. (2013, January 1995-2013). FACTS: Applicants, Matriculants, Enrollment, Graduates, MD/PhD, and Residency Applicants Data. https://www.aamc.org/data/facts/. October 9, 2013. Campbell, N. D., Greenberger, M. D., Kohn M.A., Wilcher S.J. (1982) Sex

Discrimination in Education: Legal Rights and Remedies. Washington

D.C.: National Womens Law Center. Cullins, M. (2013, October). Personal interview. Sindler, A. P. (1978) Bakke, DeFunis, and Minority Admission. New York: Longman Inc.