White Coats, Black Specialists? Racial Divides in the Medical Profession

Davis, Georgiann; Allison, Rachel

doi:10.1080/02732173.2013.836143

Cited by 12 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 51 publications

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“…The training differences between Community and University Hospitals, the treatment of non-USMDs and USMDs, and the segregation in programs may well be contributing to an informal elite and rank and file within specialties between USMDs and non-USMDs—a form of stratification for which medical sociologists cannot yet account. While informal gender and racial hierarchies have been identified within medicine (Davis and Allison 2013; Hoff, Sutcliffe, and Young 2017), and while prestige differentials between USMDs and non-USMDs may seem obvious, sociologists have yet to theorize about the construction of informal status distinctions between these different graduates in part because so little has been written in sociology about non-USMDs in the American workforce. That non-USMDs disproportionately end up training in community programs with lower resources and poorer supervision may be an important driver of horizontal status inequalities between trainees within the same specialty (supposed equals), which, upon graduation, have the potential to convert themselves into more formal, vertical status hierarchies between specialists and general practitioners, as evidenced by the residents’ trajectories after residency.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dual Autonomies, Divergent Approaches: How Stratification in Medical Education Shapes Approaches to Patient Care

Jenkins

2018

J Health Soc Behav

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The United States relies on international and osteopathic medical graduates ("non-USMDs") to fill one third of residency positions because of a shortage of American MD graduates ("USMDs"). Non-USMDs are often informally excluded from top residency positions, while USMDs tend to fill the most prestigious residencies. Little is known, however, about whether the training in these different settings is comparable or how it impacts patients. Drawing on 23 months of ethnographic fieldwork and 123 interviews, I compare training at two internal medicine programs: a community hospital staffing 90% non-USMDs and a university hospital staffing 99% USMDs. The community program's structure lent itself to a hands-off approach resulting in "inconsistent autonomy." In contrast, the university hospital supervised its residents much more regularly, resulting in "supported autonomy." I conclude that medicine may be stratified in unexpected ways between USMDs and non-USMDs and that stratification may matter for patients.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dual Autonomies, Divergent Approaches: How Stratification in Medical Education Shapes Approaches to Patient Care

Jenkins

2018

J Health Soc Behav

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“…The data suggest that a degree of racial division in medical specialization endures, but that this division does not neatly map onto specialty prestige and is deeply gendered. Black graduates were found to be more likely to enter high-prestige surgical residency programs than their white colleagues, but this finding pertains only to male medical school graduates [ 64 ]. Further research is therefore needed to study the effect of intersectionality of ethnicity and gender on medical specialization and stratification.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Intersectionality and underrepresentation among health care workforce: the case of Arab physicians in Israel

Keshet

Popper‐Giveon

Liberman

2015

Isr J Health Policy Res

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BackgroundAn intersectionality approach that addresses the non-additive influences of social categories and power structures, such as gender and ethnicity, is used as a research paradigm to further understanding the complexity of health inequities. While most researchers adopt an intersectionality approach to study patients’ health status, in this article we exemplify its usefulness and importance for studying underrepresentation in the health care workforce. Our research objectives were to examine gender patterns of underrepresentation in the medical profession among the Arab minority in Israel.MethodsWe used both quantitative and qualitative methodologies. The quantitative data were obtained from the 2011 Labor Force Survey conducted by the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics, which encompassed some 24,000 households. The qualitative data were obtained through ten semi-structured, in-depth interviews conducted during 2013 with Arab physicians and with six nurses working in Israeli hospitals.ResultsThe findings indicate that with respect to physicians, the Arab minority in Israel is underrepresented in the medical field, and that this is due to Arab women’s underrepresentation. Arab women’s employment and educational patterns impact their underrepresentation in medicine. Women are expected to enter traditional gender roles and conform to patriarchal and collectivist values, which makes it difficult for them to study medicine.ConclusionsUsing an intersectionality approach to study underrepresentation in medicine provides a foundation for action aimed at improving public health and reducing health disparities.

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“…These processes can have important implications for physician career trajectories. Davis and Allison (2013) found that Black men medical students were more likely to enter high-prestige specialties than their white peers when controlling for differences in racial discrimination and mentorship, suggesting that racism and not personal preference contribute to racial inequality in specialization trends. Still, experiences of medical students—and educators—of color remain highly understudied (Olsen 2019) and represent an important area for continued research, particularly as the national conversation shifts toward addressing structural racism.…”

Section: Stratification In the Professionmentioning

confidence: 93%

The Resurgence of Medical Education in Sociology: A Return to Our Roots and an Agenda for the Future

et al. 2021

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From 1940 to 1980, studies of medical education were foundational to sociology, but attention shifted away from medical training in the late 1980s. Recently, there has been a marked return to this once pivotal topic, reflecting new questions and stakes. This article traces this resurgence by reviewing recent substantive research trends and setting the agenda for future research. We summarize four current research foci that reflect and critically map onto earlier projects in this subfield while driving theoretical development elsewhere in the larger discipline: (1) professional socialization, (2) knowledge regimes, (3) stratification within the profession, and (4) sociology of the field of medical education. We then offer six potential future directions where more research is needed: (1) inequalities in medical education, (2) socialization across the life course and new institutional forms of gatekeeping, (3) provider well-being, (4) globalization, (5) medical education as knowledge-based work, and (6) effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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White Coats, Black Specialists? Racial Divides in the Medical Profession

Cited by 12 publications

References 51 publications

Dual Autonomies, Divergent Approaches: How Stratification in Medical Education Shapes Approaches to Patient Care

Dual Autonomies, Divergent Approaches: How Stratification in Medical Education Shapes Approaches to Patient Care

Intersectionality and underrepresentation among health care workforce: the case of Arab physicians in Israel

The Resurgence of Medical Education in Sociology: A Return to Our Roots and an Agenda for the Future

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