Date of Award

January 2023

Document Type

Open Access Thesis

Degree Name

Medical Doctor (MD)

Department

Medicine

First Advisor

Sarwat Chaudhry

Second Advisor

Dowin Boatright

Abstract

Purpose: To determine whether the prevalence of honor society membership and self-reported mistreatment and discrimination differs by medical student demographic group.Methods: This cross-sectional study analyzed data from Association of American Medical Colleges data collection instruments and included all students who graduated from LCME-accredited US medical schools and completed the Graduation Questionnaire in 2016-2019 (for honor society membership) or 2016-2017 (for self-reported mistreatment and discrimination). Results: In a sample of 50,384 graduating medical students, membership disparities were found in both Alpha Omega Alpha (AOA) and Gold Humanism Honor Society (GHHS). However, disparities in AOA existed across more identities, were often larger, and increased with increasing number of marginalized identities. Disparities in GHHS membership sometimes favored the marginalized group and no cumulative disadvantage was seen for students with multiple marginalized identities. In a separate sample of 27,504 graduating medical students female; Asian; underrepresented minority and multiracial; and lesbian, gay, and bisexual students reported a higher prevalence of mistreatment and discrimination than did male, white, and heterosexual students. Conclusions: Students from marginalized backgrounds are less likely to be AOA members and more likely to experience mistreatment and discrimination than are their peers. Addressing disparities in medical education, including those observed in honor society membership and self-reported mistreatment, will be an important step to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion in medical education.

Comments

This is an Open Access Thesis.

Download
Open Access

This Article is Open Access

Share

COinS