Despite an increase in the numbers of Indigenous students studying medicine in Canada (Spencer et al. 2005), very few studies have examined the lived experience of being an Indigenous medical student or graduate, and the impact this has on their personal, professional, family and community life (Spencer et al. 2005; Garvey et al. 2009).
In 2012, the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Manitoba approached the Section of First Nations, Métis and Inuit Health to propose a study on the experiences of Indigenous medical students and graduates so as to better understand the factors that a ect course attrition rates.
The purpose of the study was to examine the experiences of Indigenous medical students and graduates at the University of Manitoba, and the influence that being an Indigenous person in this context had on their life. This paper focuses on one particular finding of the research that was universal to all participants — the experience of racism during and after medical school.
