By Louise Kinross
Last year a groundbreaking study found that Black people in American counties with more Black primary-care doctors live longer. Yet research shows that Black medical students have higher rates of burnout and attrition than white students.
Now a new study explores why so few Black medical students in Canada become surgeons.
Scientists from St. Michael’s Hospital and the University of Toronto medical school interviewed 18 Black medical students and nine Black surgical residents—most from central Canada—in the qualitative study. It was published in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons.
In 2023, 56 per cent of Canadian surgeons were white men, the study notes. “…it’s like a white man’s club,” one Black female medical student said in the paper.
Lack of Black mentors in medical school and postgraduate training was a major stumbling block to those who wanted to become surgeons. “For many of the students, their experience of being the only Black learner in their respective programs contributed to their isolation, anxiety, and depression,” the authors wrote. “Black medical students struggled with the idea of being the only Black surgical resident or staff in their institutions and the possible impact to their mental wellbeing.”
A “jock culture” in surgery was alienating, especially to Black females and immigrants. “Participants who did not share in this culture felt excluded in the operating room when these conversations happened…A Black female surgical resident shared an instance where all the male residents in her program organized a cottage trip and failed to invite her.”
Lack of mentorship and social capital earlier on in a student’s training made it more difficult to land research opportunities, and research experience was weighted heavily for admission to surgical residencies. Black medical students were more likely to have engaged in advocacy work in the community, the authors found, but that work wasn’t recognized.
Racist microaggressions contributed to an unsafe environment for Black learners, the study found.
Black medical students considering surgery were discouraged by supervisors, who suggested they didn’t have the stamina for it. One reported that his calm presence was interpreted by nurses and staff as laziness, while the same behaviour in white male students was described as “working well under pressure.”
Another described being ‘over-policed.’ “If I would do something that was neutral, something neither good nor bad, people you wouldn’t even expect, like nurses or physiotherapists, [would] report it to my program director that I did something wrong.” Black residents generally found themselves monitored and their skills criticized in a way that didn’t apply to their non-Black peers.
Racist comments from patients were reported, and staff failed to condemn the comments and support the residents.
Because surgical subspecialties are male-dominated, female students considering this career didn’t believe it would accommodate pregnancy and a work/life balance.
Surgical culture was one of perfection, overwork and inhumane demands, participants said. Residents were expected to work continuously and “ignore the urge to eat or void,” the authors wrote.
Among surgeons, “there is some level of arrogance, some God-like complexes, in some cases real tunnel vision and inability to see beyond the task…and a very severe hierarchy,” one participant said. This was seen to create a hostile work environment.
Sleep deprivation because residents were expected to work beyond maximum shift lengths and call frequencies deterred those considering a surgery career. “I think most of the world has misconceptions about surgery,” one participant said. “They don’t know the person doing the surgery probably hasn’t slept in 32 hours” and is “running on caffeine and adrenaline.”
The authors conclude: “Except for a few surgical programs, medical schools across Canada do not offer a safe space for Black students and trainees to access and complete surgical training.”
Recommendations to create training environments that attract and support Black residents include: a commitment to change from senior faculty and staff; implicit-bias training for faculty and staff; a formal admission stream for Black learners; changes to the admission process so that life experience and advocacy work is recognized; and creation of a national registry of Black surgeons and allies willing to mentor students.
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