J Natl Med Assoc
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Professional identity formation (PIF) is considered a fundamental process in the development of healthcare providers. In medical education, the PIF literature has historically centered on medicine's socialization practices involving white male physicians. However, recently researchers have begun to reveal how larger socio-historical contexts influence PIF in minoritized physicians. To better understand what influences Black/African American physicians' PIF, this study compares their PIF experiences to a group of minoritized physician assistants (PAs). In comparing Black physicians' experiences to another provider, this study explored what PIF experiences may be attributed to participants' minoritized status and what might be attributed to the culture of medicine. ⋯ Several possibilities that might explain why Black physicians and minoritized PAs have this one marked difference in their PIF experience, including identity threat, internalization of different discourses, and length of training for physicians. While this study was not designed to answer this question, it is clear that there is something in the culture of medicine and the training of physicians that signals to Black physicians that they cannot bring their whole selves to the profession.
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Cardiologists serve a diverse population of patients, yet the lack of diversity within the cardiology workforce has continued to persist and does not represent the composition of the patient population in the United States. Although medical schools and internal medicine residency programs have witnessed major improvements in diversity, the field of cardiology has not emulated these patterns. ⋯ Strong action must be taken on an institutional level to shift the culture in cardiology to one that is more appealing to women and underrepresented minorities in order to better serve an increasingly diverse population.