Normalized “medical inferiority bias” and cultural racism against international medical graduate physicians in academic medicine

Abstract

Socio-historical barriers remain a concern in Academic Medicine. Regrettably, despite the modern cultural era defined by increased recognition and response to such issues, widespread covert barriers and misperceptions continue to limit the advancement of many, in particular, international medical graduate physicians (IMGs) who represent a significant proportion of the US physician workforce. Adversity is experienced in the form of cultural racism, affinity bias, and underrepresentation in distinct specialties as well as in leadership roles. Often, these unnecessary hardships exacerbate pre-existing discrimination in Academic Medicine, further marginalizing IMGs. In this article, we discuss the prevalence of “medical inferiority bias” and the resulting impact on US healthcare, specifying considerations to be made from a policy perspective.