Understanding Racism in Medicine and Health Equity

“There is no neutrality in the racism struggle. The opposite of 'racist' isn’t 'not racist.' It is 'antiracist.'” – Ibram X. Kendi, "How to Be an Antiracist​"

These materials are intended to provide education and examples to assist departments in becoming antiracist—with policies, procedures and operational framework that live up to this ideal.

Video Resources

Recognizing and Addressing Health Inequities: Building Upon the Lessons Learned During COVID-19

State of Michigan Chief Medical Executive Natasha Bagdasarian, M.D., delivers the inaugural Susan Moore, M.D., Memorial Lecture at the University of Michigan.

The Root Cause & Consideration for Health Care Professionals

As part of the AMA's ongoing Prioritizing Equity video series, physicians discuss how they are centering equity in their practices.

Structural Racism and the Latinx Community

As part of the AMA's ongoing Prioritizing Equity video series, panelists discuss structural racism, the invisibility of the Latinx community in mainstream topics, and the impact this has on health care access and quality.

Research and Data for Health Equity

As part of the AMA's ongoing Prioritizing Equity video series, panelists from public health and academia discuss how data can help us understand the systemic issues to have led to health inequities.

Crucial Conversations: Health Disparities & Social Inequities

University of Michigan faculty and students discuss the realities of COVID-19, health disparities, and social inequities that Black communities face.

Examining Race-Based Medicine

As part of the AMA's ongoing Prioritizing Equity video series, panelists from across the medical field discuss approaches to dismantling race-based medicine across clinical practice, education, and research.

NIH Unite Initiative

About the Initiative: The UNITE initiative was established to identify and address structural racism within the NIH-supported and the greater scientific community. With representation from across the NIH Institutes and Centers, UNITE aims to establish an equitable and civil culture within the biomedical research enterprise and reduce barriers to racial equity in the biomedical research workforce.

To reach this goal, UNITE is facilitating research to identify opportunities, make recommendations, and develop and implement strategies to increase inclusivity and diversity in science. These efforts will bolster the NIH’s effort to continue to strive for diversity within the scientific workforce and racial equity on the NIH campus and within the extramural community.

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Articles on Racism and Health Equity

Racial Disparities in the Use of Peripheral Nerve Blocks for Postoperative Analgesia After Total Mastectomy: A Retrospective Cohort Study

Michael A. Mazzeffi, MD, MPH, MSc; Ryan Keneally, MD; Christine Teal, MD; Rundell Douglas, MPH; Vanessa Starks, MD; Jonathan Chow, MD; Steven B. Porter, MD. Anesthesia & Analgesia. July 2022.

Advancing Health Equity in Patient Safety: A Reckoning, Challenge and Opportunity

Marshall H Chin. BMJ Quality & Safety. December 29, 2020.

Health Equity — Are We Finally on the Edge of a New Frontier?

Michele K. Evans, MD. New England Journal of Medicine. September 10, 2020.

Hidden in Plain Sight — Reconsidering the Use of Race Correction in Clinical Algorithms

Darshali A. Vyas, MD, Leo G. Eisenstein, MD, and David S. Jones, MD, PhD. New England Journal of Medicine. August 27, 2020

How Should Health Professional Education Respond to Widespread Racial and Ethnic Health Inequity and Police Brutality?

Alden M. Landry, MD, MPH, Rose L. Molina, MD, MPH, Regan Marsh, MD, MPH, Emma Hartswick, Raquel Sofia Sandoval, Nora Osman, MD, and Leonor Fernandez, MD. AMA Journal of Ethics. February 2021.

Health Equity Rounds: An Interdisciplinary Case Conference to Address Implicit Bias and Structural Racism for Faculty and Trainees

Joanna Perdomo, MD, Destiny Tolliver, MD, Heather Hsu, MD, MPH, Yuan He, MD, MPH, Katherine A. Nash, MD, Stephanie Donatelli, MD, Camila Mateo, MD, Cynthia Akagbosu, MD, MA, Faraz Alizadeh, MD, 
Alexandra Power-Hays, MD, Tyler Rainer, MD, Daniel J. Zheng, MD, MHS, Caroline J. Kistin, MD, MSc, Robert J. Vinci, MD, Catherine D. Michelson, MD, MMSc. MedEd Portal. November 25, 2019.

Diagnosing and Treating Systemic Racism

 
Michele K. Evans, MD, Lisa Rosenbaum, MD, Debra Malina, PhD, Stephen Morrissey, PhD, and Eric J. Rubin, MD, PhD. New England Journal of Medicine. July 16, 2020.

Op-Ed: I Am So Tired

Robert M. Sellers. University of Michigan. May 20, 2020.

Words Matter: An Antibias Workshop for Health Care Professionals to Reduce Stigmatizing Language

Julia Raney, MD, Ria Pal, MD, Tiffany Lee, MD, Samuel Ricardo Saenz, MD, MPH, Devika Bhushan, MD, Peter Leahy, MD, Carrie Johnson, MBA, Cynthia Kapphahn, MD, MPH, Michael A. Gisondi, MD,Kim Hoang, MD. MedEd Portal. March 2, 2021.

Teaching Intersectionality of Sexual Orientation, Gender Identify, and Race/Ethnicity in a Health Disparities Course

Stephanie Bi, Monica B. Vela, MD, Aviva G. Nathan, MPH, Kathryn E. Gunter, MPH, MSW, Scott C. Cook, PhD, Fanny Y. López, MPP, Robert S. Nocon, MHS, Marshall H. Chin, MD, MPH. MedEd Portal. July 31, 2020.

Calling Out Aversive Racism in Academic Medicine

Catherine L. Chen, MD, MPH., Gregg J. Gold, Ph., Maxime Cannesson, MD, PhD, and Jennifer M. Lucero, MD. New England Journal of Medicine. December 31, 2021

Listen: Anti-Racism in Medicine Podcast

In episode 5 of Clinical Problem Solvers’ Anti-Racism in Medicine Series, Aletha Maybank, MD, MPH, and Camara Jones, MD, PhD, MPH, envision a future with anti-racist health systems.