<b>Power of the English Language</b>: Recommendations to reduce impact of microaggression in medical education settings for racially and linguistically diverse students.

Microaggressions are slowly replacing overt discrimination in higher education settings and impacting underrepresented students’ overall wellbeing and academic success. This, in turn, further mitigates the effort to make medical schools and the US healthcare force more representative of the growing and diverse US population. Microaggressions, however, are powerful because they are discrete actions and attitudes that are discriminatory in nature, even if not meant as such by the perpetrator.The framework we use to make microaggressions visible and strip them of their derogatory power and their negative impact revolves around four pillars. These four pillars involve Training, Responding, Microaffirmations and Providing. Training refers to the continuous training of faculty and leaders of an institution to ensure effectiveness of the training and implementation of the learning outcomes into institution’s daily activities. Responding means open communication between student and faculty, without fear of personal or academic repercussion, and acknowledgement and elimination of microaggressive terms such as color blind. Microaffirmations are subtle nods meant to provide positive reinforcement to all students and specifically culturally, racially and linguistically diverse students, demonstrating that they are being listened to like other students. Providing means for the institution to provide a safe and diverse learning environment that is exemplified beyond just the student body. Institutions should diversify their leadership as to reinforce the school’s diverse ethos. Next steps and future research should focus on expanding research on microaggressions toward non-native English speakers and improve on these guidelines to ensure implementation of a culturally responsive curriculum for faculty and clinical instructors in institutions across the nation.

Content

Author and article information

Journal

Title: ScienceOpen Preprints

Publisher: ScienceOpen

Publication date (Electronic preprint): 23 August 2022

Affiliations

[1 ] Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine at Florida Atlantic University

[2 ] Ph.D., CCC-SLP, Department of Health and Human Performance, Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology Program, Middle Tennessee State University, 1301 East Main Street, Murfreesboro, TN, 37132

[3 ] EdD, LCSW, MS-HAS, Clinical Associate Professor, USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work, University of Southern California, Virtual Academic Center

Author notes

[* ]Email: vdanan2019@ 123456health.fau.edu .

Author information

victoria danan https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4540-0254

Article

DOI: 10.14293/S2199-1006.1.SOR-.PPQBD8N.v1

SO-VID: bbf9faaf-4144-43d4-b0f0-0ba013df4356

License:

This work has been published open access under Creative Commons Attribution License CC BY 4.0 , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Conditions, terms of use and publishing policy can be found at www.scienceopen.com .

History

Date received : 23 August 2022

Data availability: All data generated or analysed during this study are included in this published article (and its supplementary information files).

ScienceOpen disciplines: Linguistics & Semiotics,Health & Social care

Keywords: power, microaggressions, medical education, humanities, underrepresented students

References

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Sue Derald Wing, Capodilupo Christina M., Torino Gina C., Bucceri Jennifer M., Holder Aisha M. B., Nadal Kevin L., Esquilin Marta. Racial microaggressions in everyday life: Implications for clinical practice. American Psychologist. Vol. 62(4):271–286. 2007. American Psychological Association (APA). [Cross Ref]
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Comments

Comment on this article

[1] Murza Kimberly A., Ehren Barbara J.. Data-Based Decision Making in Professional Learning for School Speech-Language Pathologists. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools. Vol. 46(3):181–193. 2015. American Speech Language Hearing Association. [Cross Ref]

[2] Al-Qahtani Mona Faisal. Relationship between English Language, Learning Strategies, Attitudes, Motivation, and Students’ Academic Achievement. Education in Medicine Journal. Vol. 5(3)2013. Penerbit Universiti Sains Malaysia. [Cross Ref]

[3] Kawaii-Bogue Babe, Franovic Sreten, Jolivette Andrew. Multiracial Microaggressions: Implications for Social Work Education and Practice. Journal of Ethnic & Cultural Diversity in Social Work. Vol. 27(1):86–94. 2018. Informa UK Limited. [Cross Ref]

[4] Timm A.. 'It would not be tolerated in any other profession except medicine': survey reporting on undergraduates' exposure to bullying and harassment in their first placement year. BMJ Open. Vol. 4(7)2014. BMJ. [Cross Ref]

[5] Zheng Ying, Cheng Liying. How does anxiety influence language performance? From the perspectives of foreign language classroom anxiety and cognitive test anxiety. Language Testing in Asia. Vol. 8(1)2018. Springer Science and Business Media LLC. [Cross Ref]

[6] Hassouneh Dena, Lutz Kristin F., Beckett Ann K., Junkins Edward P., Horton LaShawn L.. The experiences of underrepresented minority faculty in schools of medicine. Medical Education Online. Vol. 19(1)2014. Informa UK Limited. [Cross Ref]

[7] Sanner Susan, Wilson Astrid H., Samson Linda F.. The experiences of international nursing students in a baccalaureate nursing program. Journal of Professional Nursing. Vol. 18(4):206–213. 2002. Elsevier BV. [Cross Ref]

[8] Espaillat Andre, Panna Danielle K., Goede Dianne L., Gurka Matthew J., Novak Maureen A., Zaidi Zareen. An exploratory study on microaggressions in medical school: What are they and why should we care? Perspectives on Medical Education. Vol. 8(3):143–151. 2019. Springer Science and Business Media LLC. [Cross Ref]

[9] Ackerman-Barger Kupiri, Boatright Dowin, Gonzalez-Colaso Rosana, Orozco Regina, Latimore Darin. Seeking Inclusion Excellence. Academic Medicine. Vol. 95(5):758–763. 2020. Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health). [Cross Ref]

[10] Nadal Kevin L., Wong Yinglee, Griffin Katie E., Davidoff Kristin, Sriken Julie. The Adverse Impact of Racial Microaggressions on College Students’ Self-Esteem. Journal of College Student Development. Vol. 55(5):461–474. 2014. Project Muse. [Cross Ref]

[11] Torres Lucas, Driscoll Mark W., Burrow Anthony L.. Racial Microaggressions and Psychological Functioning Among Highly Achieving African-Americans: A Mixed-Methods Approach. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology. Vol. 29(10):1074–1099. 2010. Guilford Publications. [Cross Ref]

[12] Driessen Martin, Schulte Silke, Luedecke Christel, Schaefer Ingo, Sutmann Frauke, Ohlmeier Martin, Kemper Ulrich, Koesters Gertrud, Chodzinski Claudia, Schneider Udo, Broese Thomas, Dette Christian, Havemann-Reinicke Ulla. Trauma and PTSD in Patients With Alcohol, Drug, or Dual Dependence: A Multi-Center Study. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research. Vol. 32(3):481–488. 2008. Wiley. [Cross Ref]

[13] Thayer Zaneta M., Blair Irene V., Buchwald Dedra S., Manson Spero M.. Racial discrimination associated with higher diastolic blood pressure in a sample of American Indian adults. American Journal of Physical Anthropology. Vol. 163(1):122–128. 2017. Wiley. [Cross Ref]

[14] Dolezsar Cynthia M., McGrath Jennifer J., Herzig Alyssa J. M., Miller Sydney B.. Perceived racial discrimination and hypertension: A comprehensive systematic review. Health Psychology. Vol. 33(1):20–34. 2014. American Psychological Association (APA). [Cross Ref]

[15] Sue Derald Wing, Capodilupo Christina M., Torino Gina C., Bucceri Jennifer M., Holder Aisha M. B., Nadal Kevin L., Esquilin Marta. Racial microaggressions in everyday life: Implications for clinical practice. American Psychologist. Vol. 62(4):271–286. 2007. American Psychological Association (APA). [Cross Ref]

[16] Patel Yash M., Ly Dan P., Hicks Tanner, Jena Anupam B.. Proportion of Non–US-Born and Noncitizen Health Care Professionals in the United States in 2016. JAMA. Vol. 320(21)2018. American Medical Association (AMA). [Cross Ref]