Perfectionism, Power, and Process: What We Must Address to Dismantle Mental Health Stigma in Medical Education

Authors

William E. Bynum, Duke University School of Medicine
Javeed Sukhera, Western UniversityFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

5-1-2021

Journal

Academic Medicine

Volume

96

Issue

5

First Page

621

Last Page

623

URL with Digital Object Identifier

10.1097/ACM.0000000000004008

Abstract

In this commentary, the authors draw on 2 personal accounts of mental illness published by Kirk J. Brower, MD, and Darrell G. Kirch, MD, in this issue to consider how and why mental health stigma is maintained in medical education. In particular, they explore how perfectionism, power differentials, and structural forces drive mental illness stigma in medical education. They argue that mental health stigma in medical education, while deeply embedded in the physician archetype and medical culture, is not inevitable and that dismantling it will require individual courage, interpersonal acceptance, and institutional action.