Exploration of the Concept of Discrimination among Mexican Resident Physicians

Abstract

Introduction: In order to train healthcare professionals with high human quality who can operate in violence-free environments, there is a recognized need to include content on the prevention of discrimination and the promotion of human rights in the formal curricula of medical programs and medical specialties. To achieve this goal, it is necessary to explore the knowledge that medical students have regarding this issue. One way to do this is through the collective meaning of the concept of discrimination within this group. Objective: For this reason, the objective of the present study is to explore the concept of discrimination among a group of Mexican resident physicians using natural semantic networks. Method: The study involved 50 resident physicians enrolled in specialty courses at a tertiary hospital in Mexico City. 50% (25) were women and the rest were men, aged between 24 and 49 years, with an average age of 28.12 years (SD = 2.87). The natural semantic networks technique was applied, where participants were asked to define the concept of discrimination using at least five free words to identify the elements most commonly associated with the concept. Based on the frequency and order of the words, those commonly linked to discrimination were determined. Results: It was identified that the concept of discrimination was associated with the words power, hierarchies, injustice, mistreatment, punishment, disdain, violence, harassment, and sexual harassment. Conclusions: The results show that for resident physicians, discrimination is associated with situations they commonly experience due to the power structures and hierarchies traditionally present in medical education, as well as the mechanisms identified for carrying it out associated with violence. This indicates that the concept of discrimination is linked to the subjective experiences in which they feel they have encountered it; however, it is necessary for them to recognize other mechanisms, such as denying rights or excluding individuals, as well as motives, such as ethnic origin, gender identity, sexual preference, or age. This work contributes to identifying the relevant content on discrimination that needs to be included in medical education programs.