Do I deserve to be here? Am I doing what I'm supposed to be doing? Is anyone going to tell me if I'm terrible?
McGrath said she experienced imposter syndrome before her medical career even began. She applied to 26 medical schools. Only one accepted her. "The whole time, I was like, 'This is the only school you got into, so you're obviously not good enough,'" she recalled. Later, having been chosen by a "coveted" institution like Mass General, "you assume that, at some point, someone will realize that the gig is up, that everybody's better than you.
, it was nearly universal; 97% reported feelings of imposter syndrome with women 1.7 times more likely to report it than men and underrepresented groups often three times more likely.The term "imposter" also suggests a lack of belonging. If medicine doesn't "look like you," this can create feelings of pressure, like you're "representing a whole group with your mere existence," said Gold, "and you have to keep proving yourself.
Source: Healthcare Press (healthcarepress.net)