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Avoiding Racial Essentialism in Medical Science Curricula
1Professor of pathology and laboratory medicine and Africana studies at the Warren Alpert Medical School at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island.
AMA Journal of Ethics
|June 24, 2017
Summary
Medical students are prompting a curriculum overhaul regarding race in health disparities education. This aims to address racial bias and improve teaching on genetics and social determinants of health.
Area of Science:
- Medical Education
- Social Determinants of Health
- Genetics and Race
Background:
- Medical student activism highlights issues with how racial categories are taught concerning health disparities.
- Critiques from social scientists question the use of race as a biological risk factor in genetics research.
- This has spurred collaborations to revise the medical curriculum's approach to race.
Purpose of the Study:
- To address the epistemological problem of racial essentialism in bioscience teaching.
- To improve educators' capacity for interdisciplinary teaching on race.
- To recalibrate the use of race in teaching genetics and social causes of health inequalities.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of medical student activism and critiques of racial essentialism.
- Review of current medical curricula regarding race and health disparities.
- Development of interdisciplinary teaching strategies.
Main Results:
- Increased awareness and dialogue among students, faculty, and administrators.
- Identification of the need to move beyond simplistic biological definitions of race.
- Recognition of the ethical imperative to address racial bias and social justice.
Conclusions:
- Medical education must confront racial essentialism to effectively teach about health disparities.
- Interdisciplinary approaches are crucial for understanding the complex role of race in health.
- Rethinking the use of race in genetics and health inequality education is essential for ethical practice.
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