Anti-Racism

In 2003, the Institute of Medicine published the book "Unequal Treatment:  Confronting Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health Care." It highlighted the finding that people of color receive lower quality care and have worse health outcomes than white people even when controlling for socioeconomic differences, health access and the like. It also notes the ongoing under-representation of people of color in the field of medicine.

Historically, the field of medicine has a long history of being complicit in perpetuating racism. Some of the best known examples include using skull measurements to validate racial superiority, experimentation on people of color in studies such as the Tuskegee Syphilis Study, and practicing medical interventions like permanent sterilization on people of color, often without their knowledge or consent. The Institute of Medicine's 2003 report encourages all physicians to inform themselves about these disparities and to strive to eliminate them.

As a residency, we have committed to addressing racism and implicit bias as essential for training excellent physicians to serve our diverse communities. In doing so, we developed a longitudinal curriculum on race and anti-racism that is integrated into our didactics series and residency training. This curriculum is constantly changing, and we regularly review our practices in order to continue to grow as individuals and as an institution. The curriculum includes:

• Implicit bias workshop for interns during first month of residency

• Annual mandatory race workshop for all faculty and residents

• Race in medicine talks during didactics every 3 months

• All speakers at didactics are encouraged to have inclusive and non-biased presentations

• Race reading group discussions every 2 months

• Race & Racism film series and discussion after hours every 1-3 months

• Racial caucusing during didactics every 2-3 months

• Racial caucusing outside of work hours every 2-3 months

• Diversity committee to independently review medical student applications

• Allow residents & faculty to use CME money to attend anti-racism trainings

• Support residents to attend ethnic and racial affinity group conferences including SNMA, LSMA, APAMSA, and AAIP