Narjust Florez on the challenges and overwhelming sense of not belonging as a Latina in Medicine
Narjust Florez, Associate Director of the Cancer Care Equity Program and a Thoracic Medical Oncologist at the Dana-Farber Brigham Cancer Center, shared a post on X:
“During training as a Latina in Medicine, I faced many challenges, ranging from exclusion to an overwhelming sense of not belonging.
Courage allowed me to share my experience via ASCO Voices presentation in 2021 and later in Journal of Clinical Oncology publication ‘My White Coat Doesn’t Fit’.
I quickly realized the need for a safe environment for Latinas and other minorities in medicine,e which led to the creation of the Florez Lab.
Now composed of over 39 members worldwide – and changing how URiMs are mentored.
The Cancer Letter featured some of our early work here.
Committed to the same mission we conducted the first study evaluating the experience of Latinas In Medicine during medical training in the USA – led by Student Doctor Gabriella Geiger.
Leading to the first publication.
The survey included 230 Hispanic/Latinx women
A majority (55%) reported negative ethnicity-based interactions from patients and/or patients’ families; 71.8%, from others in the medical field.
High rates of depression (76%) and anxiety (92%) during training were reported by Latinas.
This month we published the qualitative part of this study.
Data were categorized into 3 main themes:
- barriers stemming from limited social, cultural, and financial capital
- experiences of discrimination, bias, and perceptions of being undervalued
- burdens resulting in notable mental health challenges such as depression and anxiety.
We highlight thematic barriers to this population’s success and detail the biases they face throughout medical training that culminated in substantial mental health inflictions for Latinas in medicine.
The time to improve the current environment in medical training is now!”
More posts featuring Narjust Florez.
Narjust Florez is the Associate Director of the Cancer Care Equity Program and a Thoracic Medical Oncologist at the Dana-Farber Brigham Cancer Center. She is the principal investigator of the Sexual Health Assessment in Women with Lung Cancer (SHAWL) Study, the largest study to date evaluating sexual dysfunction in women with lung cancer.
In addition, Dr. Florez founded the Florez Lab in 2019. The laboratory focuses on lung cancer, social justice issues in medicine, and medical education.
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