My inquiry question for this project is, “How does being the ‘other’ impact our sense of self?” The reason I use the term “other” is because I specifically want to explore the interaction between identities and how minority individuals are perceived by the majority group. The process of becoming the “other” is not decided by the individual, but perpetuated by individuals who belong to the “in-group.”

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The reason I ask this question is because the implications of these reflections are far-reaching. Considering the homogeneity of the medical field, it is not surprising that there are a large number of identities that are considered “underrepresented in medicine.” Perhaps it is also unsurprising that the select few minority students who make it into medical school face continued discrimination on a daily basis (Beagan, 2003). This evidence has been shown in the context of racial and gender minorities, namely Black students and female students, and is compounded when multiple minority identities intersect (Espaillat et al., 2019). Interpersonal and institutional racism and discrimination are not new for most minority students, but the continued experience of constant prejudice unequivocally impacts self-esteem and self-image (Crocker & Quinn, 1998). Yet, it has been shown that a “positive self-concept” is particularly important when succeeding in school for minority students (Sedlacek & Prieto, 1990). Through synthesizing the current research, we can understand that: the process of “othering” influences our self-perception in the context of a majority group. This is a process that is defined by consistent interactions, including microaggressions, meaning the continued discrimination and racism that minority medical students experience contributes to the “othering” process in the context of homogenous medical institutions. Further, it has been shown that racism and discrimination impact self-esteem and have implications on an individual’s ability to succeed.   

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The evidence compounds upon itself to reveal a critical area of inquiry. How are medical students being “otherized,” and how have these experience impacted their success in medical school? In a field that has historically been challenging for underrepresented students to navigate, it is reasonable to assume that many minority students have experienced challenges in this space. Thus, the purpose of my exploration is to give space to minority students to reflect on their experiences and illuminate how these challenges continue to burden them over their unaffected peers. The implications of this study are far-reaching, namely because of how critical it is for students of different identities to succeed in medicine. Even if the majority of physicians are white, heterosexual, cis-gendered, etc., our future patients will not be. It has been shown that concordance by race and sex in physician-patient relationships is associated with better care (Street et al., 2008). The need to diversify medicine is a matter of better health care and outcomes for future patients. Ensuring the success of our minority students is crucial to our fight against systemic injustices and healthcare disparities.

 

References

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Beagan, B. L. (2003). “Is this worth getting into a big fuss over?” Everyday racism in medical school. Medical Education, 37(10), 852–860. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2923.2003.01622.x

Brons, L. L. (2015). Othering, an Analysis. Transcience, a Journal of Global Studies, 6(1), 69–90.

Crocker, J., & Quinn, D. (1998). Racism and self-esteem. In Confronting racism: The problem and the response (pp. 169–187). Sage Publications, Inc.

Epstein, S. (2008). The Rise of `Recruitmentology’: Clinical Research, Racial Knowledge, and the Politics of Inclusion and Difference. Social Studies of Science, 38(5), 801–832. https://doi.org/10.1177/0306312708091930

Espaillat, A., Panna, D. K., Goede, D. L., Gurka, M. J., Novak, M. A., & Zaidi, Z. (2019). An exploratory study on microaggressions in medical school: What are they and why should we care? Perspectives on Medical Education, 8(3), 143–151. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40037-019-0516-3

Ferguson, E., James, D., & Madeley, L. (2002). Factors associated with success in medical school: Systematic review of the literature. BMJ, 324(7343), 952–957. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.324.7343.952

Garces, L. M., & Mickey-Pabello, D. (2015). Racial Diversity in the Medical Profession: The Impact of Affirmative Action Bans on Underrepresented Student of Color Matriculation in Medical Schools. The Journal of Higher Education, 86(2), 264–294. https://doi.org/10.1080/00221546.2015.11777364

Jensen, S. Q. (2011). Othering, identity formation and agency. Qualitative Studies, 2(2), 63–78. https://doi.org/10.7146/qs.v2i2.5510

Sedlacek, W. E., & Prieto, D. O. (1990). Predicting minority students’ success in medical school. Academic Medicine, 65(3), 161–166.

Shankar, S. (2008). Speaking like a Model Minority: “FOB” Styles, Gender, and Racial Meanings among Desi Teens in Silicon Valley. Journal of Linguistic Anthropology, 18(2), 268–289. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1548-1395.2008.00022.x

Sorrell, K., Howard Ecklund, E., Emerson, M. O., & Khalsa, S. (2019). Immigrant Identities and the Shaping of a Racialized American Self. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/2378023119852788

Stratton, T. D., McLaughlin, M. A., Witte, F. M., Fosson, S. E., & Nora, L. M. (2005). Does Students’ Exposure to Gender Discrimination and Sexual Harassment in Medical School Affect Specialty Choice and Residency Program Selection? Academic Medicine, 80(4), 400–408.

Street, R. L., O’Malley, K. J., Cooper, L. A., & Haidet, P. (2008). Understanding concordance in patient-physician relationships: Personal and ethnic dimensions of shared identity. Annals of Family Medicine, 6(3), 198–205. https://doi.org/10.1370/afm.821

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