Sex and ethnicity in surgical clerkship performance.

Attitudes, personality, and career preferences of Anglo and Hispanic (Cuban) male and female junior students at the University of Miami School of Medicine were studied when they entered their surgical clerkship, and their performance in seven areas was measured 12 weeks later. Cuban females had more intolerance of ambiguity, felt less in control of their lives, anticipated more from the clerkship, preferred pediatrics, scored lower on written and verbal examinations, but performed higher on ward behaviors than other groups. Anglo females had the best written and verbal performance of any group and higher overall grades. Anglo and Cuban males preferred a surgical career more than other students did. Most differences observed were a result of the Hispanic females who, because of their role in the Cuban family, may not as yet be as assimilated into the core culture as the Cuban male.