Student treatment on clerkships based on their specialty interests.
BACKGROUND
Student clerkship experiences may suffer if teachers are not sympathetic to students' clinical interests.


OBJECTIVE
In this study, we quantified these experiences, compared reports of primary care and focused specialty students, and identified clerkships and teachers that posed special problems.


METHODS
Students starting their 4th year at 6 schools completed a survey.


RESULTS
The response rate was 75%. Students reported that these experiences, which were provoked by their clinical interests, were common: hearing deprecating comments about their interests, being denied learning opportunities, receiving lower evaluations, being discouraged from pursing their interests, and needing to be evasive for self-protection. Primary care students reported less mistreatment than focused specialty students. Students identified some clerkships and types of teachers as special problem sources. Students reported mistreatment triggered by clinical interests at twice the national rates for mistreatment triggered by race or sex.


CONCLUSIONS
Such mistreatment is common and challenges medical schools to ensure that students are treated well regardless of their career aspirations.
Woolley
Douglas C
DC
Kansas University School of Medicine, Wichita, Kansas 67214-3199, USA. dwoolley@kumc.edu
Paolo
Anthony M
AM
Bonaminio
Giulia A
GA
Moser
Scott E
SE
D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D002321:Career Choice; D002982:Clinical Clerkship; D005260:Female; D017144:Focus Groups; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008511:Medicine; D011320:Primary Health Care; D011340:Problem Solving; D036301:Qualitative Research; D013038:Specialization; D013337:Students, Medical / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013663:Teaching; D014481:United States