Showing Up is Still Resistance: Contextualizing Black Trainee Resistance in Medical Education

This commentary amplifies the contributions of Horton et al.'s study on Black physician trainees' professional resistance, situating it within the broader landscape of health professions education (HPE). As Black women physician-educators, we reflect on the profound resonance of the study's themes-resistance as survival, as existence, and as professionalism. Horton et al. employ Endarkened Storywork and Black quilting to not only document Black trainee experiences but to disrupt conventional research paradigms that marginalize their truths. This commentary argues that their work challenges the field to reimagine equity by centering marginalized voices, redefining resistance as a daily, embodied practice, and questioning research frameworks rooted in whiteness. We emphasize the urgency of methodological transformation in HPE and the ethical imperative to design and interpret data in ways that affirm rather than exploit minoritized communities. By framing the acts of showing up, mentoring, and refusing assimilation as legitimate resistance, this work redefines professionalism and provides a roadmap for institutional accountability. To advance equity, educators and researchers must not only study resistance-they must practice it.