The Fight Isn't Over Until It's Over: Addressing Racism Through an Interprofessional Healthcare Lens
Background:
Racism in healthcare is a persistent problem that can manifest as overt discrimination or subtly as implicit biases. Historically, systemic racism in healthcare has caused trauma among certain racialized groups and structural barriers to health access further perpetuate racial inequities and disparities. Consequently, people of color experience increased morbidity and mortality. Because racism in healthcare is rarely addressed in traditional curricula, five students from the University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine (UNE COM) developed an IPE event to raise awareness. The event was sponsored by UNE’s Center to Advance Interprofessional Education and Practice in collaboration with the Student National Medical Association and Student Doctors for Health Equity.
Methodology:
The event was Zoomed and livestreamed in October 2024. Topics by four panelists included: 1) health discrepancies and challenges experienced by underrepresented groups; 2) health inequalities faced by Black, Indigenous, People of Color, and immigrants; 3) how weathering exacerbates healthcare inequities; and 4) how to leverage storytelling as a tool to address racism. Interprofessional group discussions took place in breakout rooms. IPE competencies framing the event were Roles and Responsibilities and Communication. A post-event survey was conducted following the event.
Results:
The post-event survey was completed by 116 out of 149 attendees, which included various health professions students [dental medicine (1); medical biology (1); osteopathic medicine (103); nursing (2); nutrition (2); occupational therapy (1); physical therapy (1); social work (1)] and others (4). Survey findings indicated that students (99) learned most about their roles and responsibilities as health providers in combating racism in healthcare. Preliminary qualitative analysis revealed that students found the event addressed an important and informative topic, appreciated discussions with other health professions, and valued the panelists’ experience and knowledge. Areas for improvement included increased time for discussion in breakout rooms and more opportunities to learn about racism in healthcare.
Conclusion:
Attendance at this event (149) demonstrated that health professions students have significant interest in learning more about racism in healthcare and ways to address and mitigate its impacts. Attendees’ feedback emphasized the need for more conversations about the topic in health professions’ curricula.
Reflections:
The significant amount of time, effort, and teamwork needed to develop this event. Due to the continual interest of health professions students to learn about this topic, time should be allocated in the curricula for this topic.
Priority criteria:
This poster fulfills the priority criteria because it was a student-led initiative.