Implicit Bias in Health Professions: From Recognition to Transformation

Area of Science:

• Health Professions Education
• Social Justice in Healthcare
• Bias in Medicine

Background:

• Implicit bias recognition and management curricula are increasingly used to address health disparities and promote equity.
• Current approaches to implicit bias instruction vary, yielding mixed results and facing challenges like assessment difficulties and learner resistance.
• The concept of implicit bias is relatively new and has generated controversy.

Purpose of the Study:

• To reframe implicit bias recognition and management curricula as transformative learning experiences.
• To propose Transformative Learning Theory (TLT) as a framework for designing and implementing implicit bias education in health professions.
• To position implicit bias curricula as a means to advance social justice within clinical settings.

Main Methods:

• Conceptual reframing of implicit bias curricula through the lens of Transformative Learning Theory (TLT).
• Application of TLT principles to guide the development of educational strategies for recognizing and managing implicit bias.
• Analysis of existing literature on implicit bias education, its challenges, and its potential for fostering critical consciousness.

Main Results:

• Implicit bias curricula, when viewed through TLT, can foster critical consciousness in individuals and clinical learning environments.
• TLT provides a theoretical foundation for developing more effective and impactful implicit bias educational strategies.
• Reframing implicit bias education as transformative learning highlights its role in promoting social justice.

Conclusions:

• Transformative Learning Theory offers a valuable framework for enhancing implicit bias recognition and management curricula in health professions.
• Effective implicit bias education, guided by TLT, has the potential to address health disparities and advance equity.
• Viewing implicit bias education through the lens of social justice and transformative learning can lead to more profound and lasting change.