Visual Learning Equity: A Course Auditing System of Skin Color in Preclinical Medical Education

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Health Equity
• Dermatology Visuals

Background:

• Visual learning equity is a health justice issue due to underrepresentation of brown and black skin in medical education.
• This disparity creates a knowledge gap, reducing provider competence in managing skin conditions in minoritized populations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a standardized system for auditing medical education curricula.
• To assess the representation of brown and black skin tones in visual learning materials.

Main Methods:

• Cross-sectional analysis of preclinical curriculum images (2020-2021) at a US medical school.
• Categorization of skin color using the Massey-Martin New Immigrant Survey Skin Color Scale.
• Analysis included 1,660 unique human images, with specific focus on dermatologic content.

Main Results:

• Light/white skin images (71.3%) significantly outnumbered medium/brown (16.1%) and dark/black (12.7%) skin tones.
• Dermatologic images predominantly featured light/white skin (68.1%).
• Infectious disease images were disproportionately represented on darker skin tones (P<.001).

Conclusions:

• The medical school curriculum predominantly uses light/white skin for visual learning.
• Diversifying medical curricula is crucial for training physicians to care for all patients.
• The study outlines steps for curriculum auditing and diversification to achieve visual learning equity.