2021 Articles

Structural Racism: An Approach for Academic Medical Centers

Strand, Nicolle

White bioethicists owe a duty to the field and medicine to participate in anti-racist initiatives in our institutions. Given that medicine is steeped in biological essentialist assumptions about race, it is important that, as awareness of health disparities grows, physicians and medical educators are also educated on structural racism as the root cause. Bioethicists may be uniquely positioned to participate in and spearhead some of this work. There are many avenues for this kind of advocacy; however, this paper focuses on a faculty development initiative. The initiative entailed several workshops with key educators in an urban medical school. This paper will describe the curriculum, including assignments and breakout activities, and recommend future work.