Physician Experience of Discrimination in a Leadership and Well-Being Program

Physician workforce shortages are expected to reach 48,000 primary care physicians by 2034 with burnout, discrimination (gender, race, and others), and harassment as contributors. Physicians experience discrimination and harassment on a daily basis and continue to work with patients who routinely discriminate against them, which can be directly related to burnout.

The American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) created the Leading Physician Well-Being Certificate Program to combat these issues. Surveys were sent to cohorts at multiple time points - beginning, middle, and end. Multiple evaluation instruments were included in these surveys, but for this analysis, we focused on the Everyday Discrimination Scale (EDS). For Cohort 1 (n = 88, 2021), they received the EDS midway through their cohort. For Cohort 2 (n = 62, 2022), they received the EDS at each time point, but received a Privilege Assessment midway through their cohort due to their answers on the EDS.

Cohort 1 consistently rated the questions with higher levels of discrimination than Cohort 2 scholars. In general, Asian women from Cohort 1 experienced the most discrimination of all the groups (7 statements). For the Privilege Assessment, Asian and other women of color were more likely to indicate less privilege than other groups.

Physicians taking the AAFP Leading Physician Well-Being Certificate Program reported have experienced discrimination and harassment. Certain physician groups experience higher levels of discrimination and harassment, and concurrent lower levels of privilege. While unfortunate, discrimination and harassment will continue to play a large role in physicians' lives.