Table 1
Vignettes used to ask twenty U.S. medical students how they would like faculty members to respond to charged topics.
| Scenario 1 | During your weekly small group learning session, you overhear two fellow students talking. One says, “It seems that since the Supreme Court decision related to affirmative action, GW’s med school holistic admission criteria favor Black students. I think admission should be purely merit based.” You see that the session instructor overheard what that student said. What do you think should happen next? |
| Scenario 2 | As part of a small group session on health policy and practice in the family medicine clerkship a faculty member is discussing insurance policies for various conditions. Your peers begin to discuss insurance coverage for birth control and abortion. One student asks for the faculty member’s viewpoint regarding whether insurance should cover birth control and abortion. What do you think should happen next? |
| Scenario 3 | You’re in a small group session about gun violence. When a debate arises about whether guns should be more tightly regulated and whether regulation to gun access is insufficient, a student asks for literature about the value of gun control. What do you think should happen next? |
Table 2
Sociodemographic characteristics of the twenty students interviewed May-July 2024.
| SAMPLE CHARACTERISTICS | N | M |
|---|---|---|
| Gender | ||
| Cis-Woman | 11 | |
| Cis-Man | 8 | |
| Non-binary | 1 | |
| Graduation Year | ||
| 2024 | 6 | |
| 2025 | 5 | |
| 2026 | 3 | |
| 2027 | 6 | |
| Sexual Orientation | ||
| Bisexual | 2 | |
| Gay or Lesbian/Queer | 5 | |
| Straight | 13 | |
| Age | 27.7 | |
| Home state/country of origin | ||
| US | 17 | |
| International | 3 | |
| Race/ethnicity | ||
| Asian | 6 | |
| Black/African American | 4 | |
| Bi-racial | 1 | |
| Hispanic/Latinx | 1 | |
| Middle Eastern | 2 | |
| White/Caucasian | 5 | |
| Multi-ethnic | 1 |
Figure 1
Recommendations for addressing charged topics in medical education.