Department of Medical Education, Brighton and Sussex Medical School, 344B Watson Building, Falmer, BN1 9PH, England.
Lecturer in Medical Education (Research Methods), Department of Medical Education, Brighton and Sussex Medical School, 344B Watson Building, Falmer, BN1 9PH, England.
Adv Health Sci Educ Theory Pract. 2024 May;29(2):443-463. doi: 10.1007/s10459-023-10258-3. Epub 2023 Jul 10.
Recent statistics found the prevalence of dyslexia in UK medical schools to be 7%, sitting below the national prevalence of 10%. The factors contributing to this discrepancy are currently unknown, but may result from an interplay of individual and systemic barriers to entering medicine. This collaborative, analytic autoethnography aimed to use the experiences of 'Meg', a fourth-year medical student who was diagnosed as dyslexic whilst at medical school, to explore how the lack of a diagnosis during the admissions process may have impacted her journey into medicine. The data were collected using reflective writing and an interview before conducting a thematic analysis. Our analysis resulted in the construction of two meta-themes, relating to the negative emotional impact of not having a diagnosis and feelings of inferiority. Seven themes were also constructed. Some explored how Meg's personal experience of undiagnosed dyslexia acted as a barrier to entering medicine. Others explored the impact of external factors, such as socio-economic background and the provision of support, on an individual's chance of successfully applying to medical school. Finally, we explored the inadvertent impact undiagnosed (and unrecognised) dyslexia had on Meg's life course, including how medicine-specific aptitude tests, such as the BMAT and UKCAT, may have contributed to this. These results provide a unique window into the culture of applying to medical school as an undiagnosed dyslexic person, whilst discussing the need for medical schools to consider how their admissions processes may inadvertently disadvantage undiagnosed dyslexic applicants.
最近的统计数据发现，英国医学院的诵读困难症患病率为 7%，低于全国 10%的患病率。导致这种差异的因素目前尚不清楚，但可能是由于个体和进入医学领域的系统障碍相互作用的结果。这项合作的、分析性的自传体民族志旨在利用一名四年级医学生“梅格”的经历，来探讨在招生过程中没有被诊断出患有诵读困难症可能对她的医学之旅产生了怎样的影响。数据是通过 reflective writing 和 interview 收集的，然后进行了主题分析。我们的分析得出了两个meta-themes，分别与未被诊断出患有诵读困难症的负面影响和自卑感有关。还构建了七个主题，有些主题探讨了梅格未经诊断的诵读困难症个人经历如何成为进入医学领域的障碍。其他主题则探讨了外部因素的影响，如社会经济背景和支持的提供，对个人成功申请医学院的机会的影响。最后，我们探讨了未被诊断出（和未被识别出）的诵读困难症对梅格人生轨迹的意外影响，包括医学专业的能力倾向测试，如 BMAT 和 UKCAT，可能对此产生的影响。这些结果为作为一个未被诊断出的诵读困难症患者申请医学院的文化提供了一个独特的视角，同时也讨论了医学院需要考虑如何使他们的招生过程不会无意中使未被诊断出的诵读困难症申请者处于不利地位。
