Understanding how medical students select their specialty is a fundamental issue for public health and educational policy makers. One of the factors that students take into account is a specialty's prestige which hinges partly on its focus on technique rather than whole person. We examine the potential of a psychological framework, social dominance theory, to explain why some students, and not others, are drawn to more prestigious, technique-oriented specialties, based on their desire for hierarchy. We conducted a cross-sectional study among medical students at Institution X (N = 359). We examined the link between medical students' characteristics i.e. social dominance orientation (SDO), gender, age, and their career intention. We also examined level of medical students' SDO at different stages of the curriculum. SDO scores were significantly associated with technique-oriented career intentions (OR 1.56; 95 % CI [1.18, 2.06]; p = 0.001). The effect was independent of gender. Medical students' SDO scores were significantly higher in later stages of the medical curriculum (F = 6.79; p = 0. 001). SDO is a significant predictor of medical students' career intention. SDO scores are higher in students during the clinical phase of the curriculum. Medical socialization, involving the internalization of implicit and explicit norms, particularly in hospital settings, is likely to underpin our findings. This theory illuminates consistent findings in the literature on specialty prestige and the influence of medical school on career choice.

Background: Cariprazine is a new atypical antipsychotic drug approved for the treatment of schizophrenia and bipolar disorders. Methods: we searched the published randomized controlled-trials (RCT) to review cariprazine efficacy and tolerability using the databases (PubMed, EUDRACT, ClinicalTrials.gov and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials) for cariprazine role in managing the following psychiatric conditions (schizophrenia, bipolar mania, bipolar depression and major depressive disorder). A meta-analysis was conducted using the identified 13 clinical trials to assess efficacy using with the outcomes: positive and negative syndrome scale (PANSS), clinical global impressions -severity of Illness (CGI-S), young mania rating scales (YMRS), Montgomery Asberg depression rating scale (MADRS) and Hamilton rating scale for depression (HAM-D). The risk of discontinuation due to adverse effects and common side effects were examined.Results: The mean difference in change from baseline for PANSS was -6.23 (95% Confidence Interval (CI) -7.18, -5.28) favoring cariprazine treatment (p<0.00001). Similarly, mean difference for CGI-S was -0.36 (95% CI -0.41, -0.30), , ) and . The risk ratio (RR) of discontinuing due to adverse events was 1.18 (95% CI 1.01, 1.38) meaning risk increased by 18% in cariprazine group with RR for EPS related side effects 2. 82 (95% CI 2.47, 3.22) reflecting an increased risk of experiencing EPS related side effects by 182%. Cariprazine was also associated with an increased incidence of side effects such as akathisia, nausea and insomnia.Conclusion: Cariprazine demonstrates significant improvements in symptom intensity control in patients suffering from psychiatric conditions including schizophrenia, bipolar disorders and depression and is considered well-tolerated with similar rates of trials discontinuation; however, cariprazine was associated with a higher risk of EPS side effects. These findings will guide psychiatrists and pharmacists in their clinical role for supporting psychiatric patients care.

BackgroundThere is extensive evidence of health inequality across ethnic groups. Inequity is a complex social phenomenon involving several underlying factors, including ethnic discrimination. In the field of health care, it has been established that ethnic discrimination stems partially from bias or prejudice on the part of doctors. Indeed, it has been hypothesized that patient ethnicity may affect doctors’ social cognition, thus modifying their social interactions and decision-making processes. General practitioners (GPs) are the primary access point to health care for ethnic minority groups. In this study, we examine whether patient ethnicity affects the relational and decisional features of doctoring.MethodsThe sample was made up of 171 Belgian GPs, who were each randomly allocated to one of two experimental conditions. One group were given a hypertension vignette case with a Belgian patient (non-minority patient), while the other group were given a hypertension vignette case with a Moroccan patient (minority patient). We evaluated the time devoted by GPs to examining medical history; time devoted by GPs to examining socio-relational history; cardiovascular risk assessments by GPs; electrocardiogram (ECG) recommendations by GPs, and drug prescriptions by GPs.ResultsWe observed that for ethnic minority patients, GPs prescribed more drugs and devoted less time to examining socio-relational history. Neither cardiovascular risk assessments nor ECG recommendations were affected by patient ethnicity. GPs who were very busy devoted less time to examining medical history when dealing with minority patients.ConclusionsWe found no evidence that GPs discriminated against ethnic minority patients when it came to medical decisions. However, our study did identify a risk of drugs being used inappropriately in some ethnic-specific encounters. We also observed that, with ethnic minority patients, GPs engage less in the relational dimension of doctoring, particularly when working within a demanding environment. In general practice, the quality of the relationship between doctor and patient is an essential component of the effective management of chronic illness. Our research highlights the complexity of ethnic discrimination in general practice, and the need for further studies.

Background General Practitioners (GPs) are the first point of contact for people from ethnic and migrant groups who have health problems. Discrimination can occur in this health care sector. Few studies, however, have investigated implicit and explicit biases in general practice against ethnic and migrant groups. This study, therefore, investigated the extent of implicit ethnic biases and willingness to adapt care to migrant patients among trainee GPs, and the factors involved therein, in order to measure explicit bias and explore a dimension of cultural competence. Methods In 2021, data were collected from 207 trainee GPs in the French-speaking part of Belgium. The respondents passed an Implicit Association Test (IAT), a validated tool used to measure implicit biases against ethnic groups. An explicit attitude of willingness to adapt care to diversity, one of the dimensions of cultural competence, was measured using the Hudelson scale. Results The overwhelming majority of trainee GPs (82.6%, 95% CI: 0.77 – 0.88) had implicit preferences for their ingroup to the detriment of ethnic and migrant groups. Overall, the majority of respondents considered it the responsibility of GPs to adapt their attitudes and practices to migrants’ needs. More than 50% of trainee GPs, however, considered it the responsibility of migrant patients to adapt to the values and habits of the host country. Conclusions This study found that the trainee GPs had high to very high levels of implicit ethnic bias and that they were not always willing to adapt care to the values of migrants. We therefore recommend that they are made aware of this bias and we recommend using the IAT and Hudelson scales as educational tools to address ethnic biases in primary care.

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