Black Medical Students’ Sense of Belonging, Residency Self-Efficacy, and Residency Goal Stability at Historically Black vs Predominantly White Medical Schools: A Prospective Study
Background: The U.S. physician workforce is not representative of the general population, in terms of ethnoracial diversity. Efforts to increase diversity in medical school have long been underway, but have continued to fall short. Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) have been instrumental to the formation of Black physicians at the pre-medical and medical school levels. We sought to identify differences in Black medical students’ experiences at HBCUs vs predominantly white institutions (PWIs). Methods: We conducted a secondary analysis of a prospective cohort of second-year Black medical students at HBCUs and PWIs. Our sample included 379 Black students attending either HBCU or PWI medical schools. The majority were women (64.9%), ranging from 20 to 43 years of age (M=25.62, SD=3.19). Students were surveyed at three time-points over one academic year. Students completed measures of belonging, perceived competitiveness for residency, and residency specialty goals during each wave.Outcomes were reported sense of belonging, confidence in matching in a top-10 residency program and specialty of interest. We utilized generalized linear methods to determine associations between school type and outcomes, adjusting for age and sex. Results: HBCU students reported a higher sense of belonging and perceived residency competitiveness than PWI students. The institutional difference in sense of belonging increases overtime: sense of belonging increased at HBCUs but decreased at PWIs overtime. HBCU students reported a significantly lower change in residency goals than their PWI counterparts. Lastly, HBCU students were more likely to report an interest in primary care specialties compared to their PWI counterparts.Conclusion: Black medical students who attend HBCUs report a greater sense of belonging than their Black colleagues at PWIs with a gap that widens overtime, and remain more confident in their scholastic capabilities. These findings have implications for PWIs’ efforts towards creating inclusive learning environments for Black medical students.