Anatomy of Antisemitism in Health Professions Education and Practice: A Narrative Review

There has been an international resurgence in antisemitism in healthcare education and practice since October 7, 2023, prominently affecting the United States (US), United Kingdom (UK), Canada, and Australia. In the US, federal investigations by the US Department of Justice and the Congressional Subcommittee on Education and the Workforce were initiated into antisemitic harassment and hostile learning environments in medical schools. Healthcare organizations in the UK also came under investigation, and the US Congress opened an investigation into alleged antisemitism within a national psychological association. Quantitative and descriptive studies of the prevalence and characteristics of this phenomenon within medical, psychology, and social work education and practice are scant. We conducted a narrative review given the under-recognized nature of antisemitism in this context and the limited literature on this international, inter-professional issue. We searched PubMed using a search string to capture peer-reviewed descriptive and quantitative studies of antisemitism in medicine, psychology, social work, nursing, pharmacy, physician assistant, dentistry, physical, and occupational therapy education and practice. We searched 17 ProQuest databases for media and other online or written materials and conducted a hand search for additional relevant publications. We identified studies showing a high prevalence of antisemitism particularly in medical education, psychology, and social work, where >50% of subjects experienced antisemitism since October 7, 2023. Fewer than 2% of institutions had incorporated education about antisemitism into anti-discrimination training. Our review revealed that antisemitism as a form of bigotry, hatred, and discrimination has been inadequately addressed, now taking on urgency given its reach including an anti-Israel bias "mutation" and the need to assure unbiased healthcare. Actionable recommendations to counter antisemitism in healthcare derived from the publications to date are presented.