Yesterday I had the opportunity to partake in a 3hr painfully honest dialogue with my med school admin addressing the ways this country has failed Black people, the ways medical education has failed the Black student, and the ways they have failed me & my colleagues. 1/x
Stories were shared. Lessons were learned. And calls to action were made.
I chose to task my med school admin with three simple tasks, and I share these three tasks with you because I wholeheartedly believe they can be, and must be, implemented at every institution. 2/x
I chose to task my med school admin with three simple tasks, and I share these three tasks with you because I wholeheartedly believe they can be, and must be, implemented at every institution. 2/x
1.) Lectures on SDOH and racism in medicine must be integrated throughout the entire medical curriculum. A few lectures sprinkled here and there in the first year are not enough. 3/x
2.) Institutions can no longer stay quiet in the face of the bigoted comments that are made by their faculty and students.
Each comment must be addressed and education must be provided to the misinformed. 4/x
Each comment must be addressed and education must be provided to the misinformed. 4/x
2a.) This is challenging because we often hide behind the first amendment in order to allow our colleagues to get away with their bigoted opinions. But for the sake of our patients, we cannot allow these comments to go unchecked. 5/x
3.) We must evaluate & remove the implicit biases we are engraining into trainees when we write questions.
This one is hard. Because for it to truly be effective, it must occur on a systemic level.
But I challenged my institution to start with our own in-house questions. 6/x
This one is hard. Because for it to truly be effective, it must occur on a systemic level.
But I challenged my institution to start with our own in-house questions. 6/x
3a.) Every 34 y/o AA female who presents with SOB cannot have sarcoidosis or SLE. Because that is how you train the mind to ignore the ACS in the 34 y/o AA female, and that is how her treatment is delayed and thus her mortality increased. 7/x
3b.) Every male patient who partakes in anoreceptive intercourse cannot present with a sexually transmitted disease or fecal orally transmitted infection. Because that is how you miss his anal fissure, that is how you miss his IBD, that is how you miss his recurrent UTI. 8/x
3c.) I know it’s hard. I know we like buzzwords because they make testing easier. But we cannot be lazy and continue restricting the experiences our patients are allowed to have. 9/x
Please understand that these 3 tasks, while they may seem cumbersome, are quite literally the bare minimum that can & should be done.
We are no longer allowed to be complacent. 10/x
We are no longer allowed to be complacent. 10/x
I acknowledge that it will be difficult. But I am not asking for you to do it overnight. I am however telling you that you must do more than try, you must succeed. No matter how long it takes. 11/fin
