Qualitative Interview Data on Autistic Medical Student Experiences

Featuring qualitative interview data from a study of five autistic medical student members of an international online support group. The data was collected via semi-structured Zoom interviews, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed using interpretive phenomenological analysis. The study explores themes of medical culture, belonging, safety, and the impact of peer support.

Use Cases

• Analyze interview transcripts for themes like 'medical culture' and 'systemic ableism' to understand challenges in medical education.
• Examine qualitative codes related to 'belonging' and 'safety' to assess the impact of peer support groups on wellbeing.
• Study the theme of 'real modelling' from autistic doctors to explore its motivational effects on medical students.
• Investigate the experiential theme of 'weaponised professionalism' as a barrier for autistic individuals in medical training.

Strengths

• Data is derived from verbatim transcriptions of semi-structured interviews, preserving participant narratives.
• The study focuses on a specific, under-researched population: autistic medical students in an international online support group.
• Interview analysis followed a defined qualitative methodology: interpretive phenomenological analysis.

Limitations

• The dataset is very small, based on interviews with only five participants.
• As a qualitative study, the data is not generalizable to the broader population of autistic medical students.
• The data format (XLS) suggests coded or summarized themes rather than raw interview transcripts, limiting depth of analysis.

Provenance

Source

Figshare, authored by Samantha Cooper.

Collection Method

Semi-structured, one-on-one interviews conducted via Zoom, audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim.

Time Range

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Freshness

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Geography

Participants were members of an international online support group; specific geographic coverage is not stated.