Academic medicine : journal of the Association of American Medical Colleges
-
The glaring racial inequities in the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the devastating loss of Black lives at the hands of police and racist vigilantes have catalyzed a global reckoning about deeply rooted systemic racism in society. Many medical training institutions in the United States have participated in this discourse by denouncing racism, expressing solidarity with people of color, and reexamining their diversity and inclusion efforts. ⋯ They describe common pitfalls of diversity and inclusion initiatives and call for an antiracist approach to systems change. The authors then offer 9 recommendations that medical training institutions can implement to critically examine and address racist structures within their organizations to actualize racial equity and justice.
-
As protests against racism occur all over the United States and medical institutions face calls to incorporate antiracism and health equity curricula into professional training and patient care, the antiracism discourse has largely occurred through a Black/African American and White lens. Hispanics, an umbrella category created by the U. S. government to include all people of Spanish-speaking descent, are the largest minority group in the country. ⋯ Expanding the antiracism discourse in medicine to include Hispanic perspectives and the diversity of histories and health outcomes among Hispanic groups is crucial to addressing inequities and disparities in health and medical training. A lack of inclusion of Hispanics has contributed to a growing shortage of Hispanic physicians and medical school faculty in the United States as well as discrimination against Hispanic physicians, trainees, and patients. To reverse this negative trend and advance a health care equity and antiracist agenda, the authors offer steps that medical schools, academic medical centers, and medical accreditation and licensing bodies must take to increase the representation of Hispanics and foster their engagement in this evolving antiracism discourse.
-
Advancing equity for women remains an urgent and complex problem at academic health centers. Attempts to mitigate gender gaps have ranged widely and have been both slow to occur and limited in effect. Recognizing the limitations of previously attempted solutions and fueled by the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements, the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW) stepped outside known approaches (e.g., women's leadership plans and programming) to design and implement a strategic campaign that promotes gender equity through fostering change in systems and social norms. ⋯ The feedback from the initial campaign has been positive. Lessons learned include realizing the importance of public pledges, engaging male allies, and following up. The authors suggest that the IWill MCW campaign provides a model for academic health centers to advance gender equity and shape an environment in which people of all genders can thrive.