I’m going to be brutally honest and humble with y’all for a second. So here’s a brief thread on what I think medical institutions must consider, if they haven’t already, when it comes to developing new anti-racism curricula. 1/

Over the years, folx in medicine have carved out niches in terms of ahistorical cultural competency and implicit bias training, which often lead to “feel good” sessions that don’t explicitly indict the violence of white supremacy in medicine. 2/

We’re in a moment where collective consciousness around COVID-19, police brutality, and the common denominator of structural racism have forced us to examine our own profession through more of a critical lens. 3/

Institutions now have the opportunity to completely RE-IMAGINE medicine and to CREATE new roles and community partnerships to make this vision of healthcare and medical education a reality. 4/

However, we have to be vigilant that institutions don’t simply turn to the same folks who have already been in power and expect them to embody a completely new pedagogy. 5/

Let’s be REAL for a sec. As I told a conference room full of medical students in January, WE ARE ALL PROBLEMATIC. Yes, even your heroes in medicine. We can’t point out state-sanctioned police violence and then revert back to “a few bad apples” when it comes to medicine. 6/

This is a major reason for moral injury for those with a strong conscience. 7/

On a more optimistic note, I do think that some institutions are less problematic than others (e.g. sociology and public health). Which is precisely why medicine needs to collaborate with NON-MEDICAL fields, communities, and activists. 8/

TBH, a lot of what we’re starting to talk about in medicine now, public health folks have BEEN talking about. There’s a reason why the APHA named gun violence a public health issue two years ago, 9/

and some of us are still trying to advocate for our medical institutions to do the same in 2020. 10/

I think it’s phenomenal we’re abolishing race factors in clinical algorithms, but this is only the very TIP of the iceberg. In fact, if we are striving for health equity, perhaps we SHOULD be using race factors to direct resources to patients. (e.g. organ transplants) 11/

Something we ALL can do is to not claim false expertise in critical race theory, feminist abolition, restorative and transformative justice, etc. or pretend that reading a few NYT bestsellers will get us there. 12/

I hope this doesn’t leave anyone feeling too down because change IS possible, but we have to tangibly invest in bringing in the RIGHT experts and in creating structures that allow for the practice of anti-racist healthcare, not just “race neutral” healthcare. (END)