Navigating Indigenous Representation in Medical School: The Path to Reconciliation

To the Editor: Being in medical school in general can be difficult, but considering the added stressors of being Indigenous in a field where racism and discrimination against Indigenous people is often inescapable, one can see that being an Indigenous medical student comes with unique challenges.1,2 How can Indigenous medical students feel confident and understood after acceptance into medical school? Three challenges are present in navigating medical school as an Indigenous person: (1) medical curricula have only in recent years started offering streams focused on Indigenous people’s health1,2; (2) many non-Indigenous medical students may experience discomfort in acknowledging their own privilege and prefer not to do so3; and (3) Indigenous medical students often have survivors of Indian Residential Schools in their families, making medical school feel that much more institutional. To openly advocate for changes as an Indigenous student is worthy of applause, as they often have difficulty just comprehending their own existence in an institution fraught with nepotism and privilege. Therefore, Indigenous students can benefit immensely from having an Indigenous physician mentor build their confidence in medical school. Because of my mentor, I have learned that graduating from medical school as an Indigenous mother is doable, an experience that my mentor and I share. Many medical students have parents or close family members who are physicians, and so they often receive an advantage in understanding how to navigate medical school. Without my mentor, I fear that I would have had no one to guide me during these years, especially when considering the added experience of being Indigenous. It is my hope that medical schools across the country welcome the opportunity to have Indigenous physicians mentoring Indigenous medical students. This will not only provide practical and emotional support for Indigenous medical students but also strengthen them to celebrate their identity and lead health care further into truth and reconciliation. In this way, Indigenous medical students will feel more welcome in medical schools with help from those who have walked a mile in their moccasins. Elycia E. Monaghan Medical student, Northern Ontario School of Medicine University, Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada; email: [email protected]

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