As the student body becomes more diverse at the University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine (UNE COM), there is a need to foster inclusivity among professionals and peers from different backgrounds. As part of this shifting culture, first-year UNE COM students attended a Clinical Practice Conference (CPC) on systemic racism and health disparities, and had the opportunity to participate in an extracurricular workshop that discussed cultural humility and “microaggression.”
Jenna Wozer, a second year UNE COM medical student and social justice advocate, reports learning what a microaggression is in the classroom last year. Despite finding this introduction helpful, she felt frustrated not knowing how to actively address a hurtful or offensive comment. Recognizing that other students similarly struggle to effectively intervene when a microaggression is delivered, Jenna hosted this secondary workshop with the support of two student organizations, White Coats for Black Lives and Health Equity Alliance. Her intention was to give students an opportunity to develop accessible language that could be used to confront daily microaggressions in personal and professional settings, as well as the time to unpack this sensitive topic under the guidance of trained student facilitators.
For those who are unfamiliar, Merriam-Webster dictionary defines microaggression as “a comment or action that subtly and often unconsciously or unintentionally expresses a prejudiced attitude toward a member of a marginalized group.”1 While microaggressions typically address racial stereotypes, they could be actions or words that target any characteristic, such as gender, sexual orientation, age, etc. For example, while you might think that saying “Where are you from? No, where are you actually from” is ‘not a big deal,’ this type of language could actually be quite ostracizing, especially for a minority student or one from an immigrant family.2
JOANNA's JOURNAL
“WHERE ARE YOU FROM? NO, WHERE ARE YOU ACTUALLY FROM?"
By Joanna Sajdlowska OMS-I, MS, Jenna Wozer OMS-II, Karissa Rajagopal OMS-I
First and second year COM students during the microaggressions workshop