Addressing Race, Culture, and Structural Inequality in Medical Education: A Guide for Revising Teaching Cases

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Health Disparities Research
• Sociodemographics and Health

Background:

• Sociodemographic factors like race and culture significantly influence patient health outcomes.
• Teaching medical students about these determinants and health disparities presents a persistent challenge.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify improvements for teaching critical content on race, culture, structural inequalities, and health disparities.
• To develop evidence-based revision guidelines for virtual patient cases.

Main Methods:

• A literature review identified challenges and best practices in teaching race and culture in medicine.
• 63 virtual patient cases were analyzed using a framework derived from the literature review.
• Six common themes of mistakes or pitfalls in case presentation were identified.

Main Results:

• A novel, practical guide was developed for medical educators.
• The guide facilitates systematic revision of teaching cases to enhance content on race and culture.
• It includes definitions, revision sections, examples, and evidence-based recommendations.

Conclusions:

• The developed guide offers a structured approach to improving medical education on race and culture.
• The guide can be adapted for various medical teaching modalities.
• Further feedback on implementation is crucial for assessing effectiveness.