An Intervention to Improve Well-Being in African American Medical Students

描述（由申请人提供）：拟议研究的主要目的是使用实验设计来测试自我肯定干预保护和改善黑人医学生心理健康的程度。这项研究是一个更大的研究计划的一部分，旨在通过减少白色医学院学生的偏见来减少医疗保健中的种族差异，并且是由证据基础中的相当大的差距所驱动的，这些差距涉及如何改善黑人医疗专业人员的招聘和提高他们的成功率和保留率。少数民族患者受益于多样化的医疗专业人员，医学研究所关于不平等待遇的报告建议增加黑人医生的数量，作为减少差异的一种方法。然而，初步证据表明，从医学院开始，黑人医学院学生比他们的白色同行更有可能经历一些脆弱性，包括歧视和刻板印象威胁（一种心理状态，具有已证明的有害影响，是由于意识到自己的群体可能因刻板印象而受到负面评价而产生的）。黑人医学生所经历的独特的压力可能会导致医学生健康结果的差异。此外，压力是在医学院的过程中记录的负面变化的贡献者之一，包括增加玩世不恭，减少同情心，减少理想主义，以及不太重视与患者建立人际关系和为医疗服务不足的人提供护理。很少有方法上严格的测试策略，以保护和促进黑人医学生的福祉。本研究将探讨自我肯定干预是否能有效降低刻板印象威胁，改善黑人医学生的心理健康。这里测试的干预措施将提供一个低成本和易于实施的战略，以改善黑人学生的福祉。这项研究的结果将有助于未来的干预策略，以提高代表性不足的医学生的心理健康和服务质量不足。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The primary aim of the proposed study is to use an experimental design to test the degree to which a self-affirmation intervention protects and improves the mental health of Black medical students. This study is part of a larger program of research intended to reduce racial disparities in health care by reducing bias in White medical students, and is driven by a sizeable gap in the evidence base regarding ways to improve the recruitment and increase the success and retention of Black medical professionals. Minority patients benefit from a diverse pool of medical professionals, and The Institute on Medicine's report on Unequal Treatment recommended increasing the number of Black physicians as one way to reduce disparities. Yet, preliminary evidence suggests that, from the start of medical school, Black medical students are more likely than their White counterparts to experience a number of vulnerabilities including discrimination and stereotype threat (a psychological state with proven deleterious effects that is created by awareness that one's group may be judged negatively because of a stereotype). The unique stressors experienced by Black medical students may contribute to disparities on medical student health outcomes. Furthermore, stress is among the contributors to documented negative changes over the course of medical school including increased cynicism, reduced empathy, reduced idealism, and less importance placed in forming interpersonal relationships with patients and on providing care for the medically underserved. There have been very few methodologically rigorous tests of strategies for protecting and promoting the well-being of Black medical students. This study will determine whether a self-affirmation intervention is effective at reducing stereotype threat and improving the psychological well- being of Black medical students. The intervention being tested here would provide a low-cost and easy-to-implement strategy for improving Black students' well-being. Findings from this study will help with future intervention strategies to increase underrepresented medical students' psychological well-being and quality of care for the underserved.