CJEM
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Racism and colonialism impact health, physician advancement, professional development and medical education in Canada. The Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians (CAEP) has committed to addressing inequities in health in their recent statement on racism. The objective of this project was to develop recommendations for addressing racism and colonialism in emergency medicine. ⋯ Emergency physicians are uniquely positioned to promote equity at each encounter with patients, peers and learners. The 16 recommendations presented here are practical steps to countering racism and colonialism everyday in emergency medicine.
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Review
Education about sexual and gender minorities within Canadian emergency medicine residency programs.
The CAEP 2021 2SLGBTQIA +i panel sought whether a gap exists within Canadian emergency medicine training pertaining to sexual and gender minority communities. This panel aimed to generate practical recommendations on improving emergency medicine education about sexual and gender minorities, thereby improving access to equitable healthcare. ⋯ The panel outlines eight recommendations for closing the curricular gap. It identifies three perceived or real barriers to the inclusion of sexual and gender minority content in emergency medicine residency curricula. It acknowledges three enabling recommendations that are beyond the scope of individual emergency medicine programs or emergency departments (EDs), that if enacted would enable the implementation of the recommendations. Each recommendation is accompanied by two action items as a guide to implementation. Each of the three barriers is accompanied by two action items that offer specific solutions to overcome these obstacles. Each enabling recommendation suggests an action that would shift emergency medicine towards sociocultural competence nationally. These recommendations set the primary steps towards closing the educational gap.
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Gender inequities are deeply rooted in our society and have significant negative consequences. Female physicians experience numerous gender-related inequities (e.g., microaggressions, harassment, violence). These inequities have far-reaching consequences on health, well-being and career longevity and may result in the devaluing of various strengths that female emergency physicians bring to the table. This, in turn, has an impact on patient healthcare experience and outcomes. During the 2021 Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians (CAEP) Academic Symposium, a national collaborative sought to understand gender inequities in emergency medicine in Canada. ⋯ Via the above process, 15 recommendations were developed to address five unique problem areas. There is a dearth of research in this important area and we hope this preliminary work will serve as a starting point to fuel further research. To facilitate these scholarly endeavors, we have appended additional documents identifying other key problems with gender equity in emergency medicine in Canada as well as proposed next steps for future research.