Perceptual and Structural Facilitators and Barriers to Becoming a Surgeon: A Qualitative Study of African American and Latino Surgeons

The path to a surgical career as experienced by African American and Latino surgeons is heavily influenced by mentors mediating their integration into surgical culture and engendering a feeling of belonging. Future surgeons from groups underrepresented in medicine would benefit from identifying aspirational figures early, a structured introduction into the rigors of the profession, and a deconstruction of negative surgical norms.