"I have established this support network": How Chosen Kin Support Women Medical Students During their First Two Years in Medical School.

Abstract

Women medical students experience unique stressors and challenges during medical school related to inherent structural androcentric norms. Through a longitudinal qualitative study of 17 women medical students in their first two years of medical school, we sought to investigate how they navigated their medical school experience. We used a critical lens and narrative inquiry to understand their experiences within the powerful and marginalizing culture of medical school. Our participants identified two essential support groups: those relationships made within, and those sustained outside, medical school. These findings invoked a kinship framework-one where women medical students have a network of chosen kin who provide essential support for them during their first 2 years. The participants' chosen kin within medical school provided support through recognition of one another, belonging by not belonging, being encouraged to reach out, and creating long-term relationships. The chosen kin outside medical school provided support by reminding the student who they are and creating stability. Integrating models of kinship into medical school as practiced by women medical students may have immense value in providing essential supports for medical students, preventing burnout, and changing the culture of care for future physicians that would align recognition and practice of self-care with patient care.