Race matters: Addressing racism as a health issue

The World Health Organization proclaimed in 1948 that "health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity." In many underserved communities, the individual and social well-being of patients of color is threatened. The United States is currently experiencing an exacerbation of racial tensions, and as health-care providers, we are dealing with the effects of racism on a daily basis. To effectively address patients' needs, it is imperative that physicians and behavioral health providers acknowledge the racial and socioeconomic challenges that patients face and recognize how these factors transcend to the physical and psychological medical conditions that patients experience. This article highlights an ongoing program that espouses the importance of addressing racism as a health issue and will reveal individual experiences and challenges in addressing it within urban underserved residency program settings. Various viewpoints on racism as a health issue will be offered and will be further clarified by the authors. Collaborators on this project are two underrepresented minority residency program faculty, a resident who is passionate about social justice and who is ethnically different from the majority of his patients, and lastly an international resident of color who has experienced racism directly and indirectly during residency training.