From medical school through residency applications: Puerto Ricans may face ignorance and prejudice

Abstract

It is not that unusual to find that Americans are unaware that Puerto Rico is a territory of the United States, and, like them, Puerto Ricans are U.S citizens enjoying the same liberties, freedoms, and rights. It may be less expected to face such incognizance or ignorance within the medical community as careers in medicine offer healthcare professionals the opportunity to serve patients spanning race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, religion, and other demographic differences. Unfortunately, some of the personal experiences of the primary author have prompted us to cull four personal narratives of Puerto Rican individuals (Boricuas), who comprise 20.8% of the Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish Origin applicants to U.S. medical schools, during various early stages of a medical career. Of course, these personal anecdotes, offered in response to just a few general questions about recent experiences of bias in medical applications or in early training, do not indicate pervasive bias. Similarly, these instances may be more common than people in the medical community would prefer to believe. In the brief narratives that follow, Boricuas at different junctures in their medical educations highlight the bias that they have faced and their reactions to it. We present this information with the hope of promoting awareness of potential biases at different stages of medical education.