Medical Education in Context: Social Determinants of Learning and Identity Development

Professional identity formation is a central construct in medical education. This encompasses the ongoing process through which learners internalize the values, roles, and responsibilities of the medical profession, and is widely recognised as foundational to clinical competence, ethical reasoning, and long-term professional wellbeing. Relatively little attention has been directed toward how social conditions shape how learners’ experience medical education and develop a sense of professional belonging.

Social determinants of learning recognizes that educational outcomes and identity development are affected by factors such as socioeconomic status, food and housing security, psychological safety, discrimination, mentorship access, financial stress, and family responsibilities. These influence learner well-being, persistence, confidence, and the formation of professional identity. Medical educators are recognizing that learners do not enter training on equal social footing, nor experience educational systems uniformly. External factors may shape whether learners perceive themselves as capable, valued, and authentic members of the profession.

The proposed collection seeks to advance scholarship at the intersection of social context, learning environment, and identity development across medical education. This topic is aligned with contemporary priorities in medical education, including well-being, inclusion, and workforce development and retention. The goal of this collection is to explore how social, structural, and environmental factors influence professional identity formation in medical education. Specifically, the collection seeks to:

• Stimulate scholarly discussion regarding the construct of Social Determinants of Learning and relevance to medical education
• Advance conceptual understanding of how social context influences the process of becoming a physician
• Examine the latest developments, research findings, and educational innovations related to learner belonging, inclusion, and identity formation
• Encourage critical reflection on the role of institutional culture, learning environments, and structural inequities in shaping learner experiences
• Highlight evidence-based strategies that support equitable professional identity development

Potential topics may include, but are not limited to:

• Advancing conceptual understanding of Social Determinants of Learning in medical education
• Examining the relationship between learning environments and professional identity formation
• Identifying barriers and facilitators to learner belonging, inclusion, and persistence
• Highlighting educational practices and institutional strategies that support equitable identity development
• Encouraging interdisciplinary and multi-institutional scholarship related to learner experience and physician formation
• Promoting evidence-informed approaches to creating learning environments in which all learners can thrive

Article types may include: Original and Brief Research Reports, Reviews including Mini Reviews, Hypothesis and Theory, Perspective, Curriculum, Instruction, and Pedagogy, General Commentary, Opinion.

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Case Report
• Clinical Trial
• Community Case Study
• Curriculum, Instruction, and Pedagogy
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Case Report
• Clinical Trial
• Community Case Study
• Curriculum, Instruction, and Pedagogy
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Policy and Practice Reviews
• Policy Brief
• Review
• Study Protocol
• Systematic Review
• Technology and Code

Keywords: Professional identity formation, Social determinants of learning, Medical education, Learning environment, Sense of belonging, Hidden curriculum, Educational equity, Psychological safety, Institutional culture, Learner well-being, Mentorship, Physician formation

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.