Exploring Racism and Health: An Intensive Interactive Session for Medical Students.

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Health Equity
• Social Justice

Background:

• Growing evidence links racism to adverse health outcomes.
• There is a recognized need for enhanced racism education among healthcare professionals.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and implement a novel educational session on racism for first-year medical students.
• To assess the effectiveness of this session in increasing awareness of racism's impact on health.

Main Methods:

• A mandatory educational session combining a lecture and case-based small-group discussions was delivered to 536 first-year medical students over three academic years (2016-2019).
• Curriculum development involved collaboration between faculty and students.
• Small-group discussions (10-12 students) were facilitated by upper-level students.

Main Results:

• The majority of student evaluations indicated the session met its objectives.
• Many students reported an enhanced understanding of how racism influences health.
• Small-group activities were highlighted as particularly impactful for learning.

Conclusions:

• Active student participation in curriculum design and facilitation was key to student engagement.
• Future efforts will focus on integrating content on bias, stereotyping, and health disparities into clinical training.