Open AccessRacial Anxiety among Medical Residents: Institutional Implications of Social Accountability
Author(s) -
Lilanta Joy Bradley,
Jennifer Clem,
Rachel D. Godsil,
Jessica C. MacFarlane,
Pamela Payne Foster
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
journal of health care for the poor and underserved
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.511
H-Index - 59
eISSN - 1548-6869
pISSN - 1049-2089
DOI - 10.1353/hpu.2019.0121
Subject(s) - anxiety , preparedness , ethnic group , population , perception , psychology , accountability , health equity , medicine , clinical psychology , public health , gerontology , nursing , psychiatry , political science , environmental health , neuroscience , law
As the U.S. population becomes more racially diverse, physicians need to have cultural skills for optimal health outcomes; however, the literature is sparse for cultural skill application of medical trainees. This paper focuses on Family Medicine residents' perceptions of racial anxiety and their preparedness to manage cross-racial interactions. Of the 24 respondents, the majority were female. The ethnicities of respondents were 16 non-Hispanic White, five African American, and three Native American. Most participants demonstrated good general knowledge and/or self-efficacy on racial anxiety, but produced lower scores in workplace skills and actions related to racial anxiety. Thus, physician training programs should incorporate more skill development around racial anxiety. More research is needed to examine how medical schools approach multicultural education as a method of disrupting health disparities to reflect trends of social accountability and social justice.