Medicine, Bias and Religion
Tanya Denley, MDiv., MA Bioethics, Chaplain, Mercy Medical Center
The New England Journal of Medicine recently published an article called "Bias, Black Lives, and Academic Medicine," which highlights the effect of bias in healthcare disparities. They begin and end their article with the following “We feel it is essential to begin a conversation about our role in addressing the explicit and implicit discrimination and racism in our communities and reflect on the systemic biases embedded in our medical education curricula, clinical learning environments, and administrative decision-making. We believe these discussions are needed at academic medical centers nationwide…What are the systemic biases within academic medical centers, and what do they have to do with black lives.”
“For the sake of not only black lives but all lives, we should … to examine the implicit biases in our academic medical centers. We can begin by assessing how bias contributes to the persistence of black–white disparities in health care, medical school recruitment, and faculty retention in our own institutions. We can audit the care we deliver to ensure that the right treatments are provided and the best outcomes are achieved regardless of patients' race, class, or sex. We can assess the climate within our centers and strive to ensure that our recruitment processes, classrooms, clinics, administrations, and boardrooms are inclusive to all. But most important, we should talk about bias, with our students, our faculties, our staff, our administrations, and our patients. Maybe then we'll have a chance to finally eliminate the racial health care disparities that persist in the United States. “
Religious leaders have a unique perspective that can help address or even raise issues of medical bias, racism, and privilege in the health care setting. The workshop will define medical bias, implicit bias, and explain the effect on health care disparities; provide education on racism and privilege and their role in bias; and strategize ways that health care leaders can address or raise issues of bias in health care.
The current discussion regarding Black Lives Matter raises these questions about medical bias, racism, and privilege in the health care setting. The target audience would be all who are interested in seeing how racism and privilege play out in our medical centers.
The presenter is a national published author and anti racism presenter who is a Presbyterian pastor, a board certified chaplain, and active in the national and local conversations about race and racism.
The New England Journal of Medicine recently published an article called "Bias, Black Lives, and Academic Medicine," which highlights the effect of bias in healthcare disparities. They begin and end their article with the following “We feel it is essential to begin a conversation about our role in addressing the explicit and implicit discrimination and racism in our communities and reflect on the systemic biases embedded in our medical education curricula, clinical learning environments, and administrative decision-making. We believe these discussions are needed at academic medical centers nationwide…What are the systemic biases within academic medical centers, and what do they have to do with black lives.”
“For the sake of not only black lives but all lives, we should … to examine the implicit biases in our academic medical centers. We can begin by assessing how bias contributes to the persistence of black–white disparities in health care, medical school recruitment, and faculty retention in our own institutions. We can audit the care we deliver to ensure that the right treatments are provided and the best outcomes are achieved regardless of patients' race, class, or sex. We can assess the climate within our centers and strive to ensure that our recruitment processes, classrooms, clinics, administrations, and boardrooms are inclusive to all. But most important, we should talk about bias, with our students, our faculties, our staff, our administrations, and our patients. Maybe then we'll have a chance to finally eliminate the racial health care disparities that persist in the United States. “
Religious leaders have a unique perspective that can help address or even raise issues of medical bias, racism, and privilege in the health care setting. The workshop will define medical bias, implicit bias, and explain the effect on health care disparities; provide education on racism and privilege and their role in bias; and strategize ways that health care leaders can address or raise issues of bias in health care.
The current discussion regarding Black Lives Matter raises these questions about medical bias, racism, and privilege in the health care setting. The target audience would be all who are interested in seeing how racism and privilege play out in our medical centers.
The presenter is a national published author and anti racism presenter who is a Presbyterian pastor, a board certified chaplain, and active in the national and local conversations about race and racism.