title: Racial and ethnic minority medical students' perceptions of and interest in careers in academic medicine.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To describe diverse medical students' perceptions of and interest in careers in academic medicine.
  
  
  METHODS
  In 2010, the authors invited students attending three national medical student conferences to respond to a survey and participate in six focus groups. The authors identified trends in data through bivariate analyses of the quantitative dataset and using a grounded theory approach in their analysis of focus group transcripts.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The 601 survey respondents represented 103 U.S. medical schools. The majority (72%) were in their first or second year; 34% were black and 17% were Hispanic. Many respondents (64%) expressed interest in careers in academic medicine; teaching and research were viewed as positive influences on that interest. However, black and Hispanic respondents felt they would have a harder time succeeding in academia. The 73 focus group participants (25% black, 29% Hispanic) described individual- and institutional-level challenges to academic medicine careers and offered recommendations. They desired deliberate and coordinated exposure to academic career paths, research training, clarification of the promotion process, mentorship, protected time for faculty to provide teaching and research training, and an enhanced infrastructure to support diversity and inclusion.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Medical students expressed an early interest in academic medicine but lacked clarity about the career path. Black and Hispanic students' perceptions of having greater difficulty succeeding in academia may be an obstacle to engaging them in the prospective pool of academicians. Strategic and dedicated institutional resources are needed to encourage racial and ethnic minority medical students to explore careers in academic medicine.
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University, Bronx, NY 10461, USA. john.sanchez@einstein.yu.edu
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Sánchez
authors.forename: Lutheria
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Peters
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Lee-Rey
authors.forename: Hal
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Strelnick
authors.forename: Gwen
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Garrison
authors.forename: Kehua
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Dennis
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Spencer
authors.forename: Gezzer
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ortega
authors.forename: Baligh
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Yehia
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Berlin
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Castillo-Page
mesh_terms: D002321:Career Choice; D003625:Data Collection; D017144:Focus Groups; D006801:Humans; D008511:Medicine / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008913:Minority Groups / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D036301:Qualitative Research; D013337:Students, Medical / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D013663:Teaching; D014481:United States