The experiences of medical students with dyslexia: an interpretive phenomenological study

Extract from Abstract:

This article explores the experiences of UK medical students with dyslexia, using aninterpretive phenomenological approach. This project began with a review of the literature,highlighting a void of qualitative research. We then conducted a collaborative autoethnography. This paper forms the next stage in this series of research. We aimed to elicit meaning and understanding from the lived experiences of our participants. Eight UKjunior doctors with dyslexia were interviewed over the telephone in an in-depth,unstructured manner. Audio-recordings were transcribed verbatim and thematicallyanalyzed with the aid of a template analysis. Experiences of helplessness and hopelessnesswere common. These may be a result of a fear of stigmatization, and personal feelings ofinadequacy. They may also be fuelled by the incidents of bullying and belittling from othermedical students that were reported. An important meta-theme was of fear and lack ofunderstanding. A lack of pastoral support was also reported. Their experiences of medicalschool assessments are also reported. More may need to be done to educate teachers andclinical supervisors on dyslexia.

This article was published in Dyslexia and can be found at this weblink:https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/dys.1587

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