Training Public Health Students in Racial Justice and Health Equity : A Systematic Review

In an attempt to move the field of public health from documenting health disparities to acting to rectify them, in 2001, the American Public Health Association (APHA) recognized racism as a fundamental cause of racial health disparities. Both APHA and the Council on Education for Public Health have moved to incorporate new competencies in health equity for public health professionals. As schools and programs of public health work to establish curricular offerings in race and racism, a need exists to identify approaches currently in use that can be replicated, adapted, and scaled. This systematic review sought to identify pedagogical methods and curricula that exist to support the training of US public health students in understanding racism as a structural determinant of health. We found 11 examples from peer-reviewed literature of curricula, lessons, and competencies that have been developed by public health faculty and departments since 2006. The articles discussed a range of approaches to teaching about structural racism in public health, suggesting that little consensus may exist on how to best teach this material. Furthermore, we found little rigorous evaluation of these teaching methods and curricula. The results of this review suggest future research is needed on public health pedagogy on structural racism.