Academic medicine : journal of the Association of American Medical Colleges
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Faculty from different racial and ethnic backgrounds developed and piloted an antiracism curriculum initially designed to help medical students work more effectively with patients of color. Learning objectives included developing stronger therapeutic relationships, addressing the effects of structural racism in the lives of patients, and mitigating racism in the medical encounter. ⋯ Medical educators must address racism in medical education before seeking to direct students to address it in medical practice.
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Implementation of workplace-based assessment programs has encountered significant challenges. Faculty and residents alike often have a negative view of these programs as "tick-box" or "jump through the hoops" exercises. A number of recommendations have been made to address these challenges. To understand the experience with a workplace-based assessment tool that follows many of these recommendations, the authors conducted a qualitative study using the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR) to identify enablers and barriers to engagement with the tool. ⋯ This study demonstrates that the negative experience of faculty and residents with workplace-based assessment tools shown in prior studies can be overcome, at least in part, when specific implementation strategies are pursued. The findings provide guidance for future research and implementation efforts.
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The COVID-19 pandemic has caused major disruptions to the academic medicine community, including the cancellation of most medical and health professions conferences. In this Perspective, the authors examine both the short- and longer-term implications of these cancellations, including the effects on the professional development and advancement of junior faculty and learners. While the COVID-19 pandemic is new in 2020, impediments to conference attendance and participation are not. ⋯ The authors argue that the unprecedented hardships of this pandemic present a unique opportunity to reimagine how conferences can be conducted and to rethink what it means to be part of an academic community. While there are challenges with this digital transformation of academia, there are also undeniable opportunities: online abstracts and recorded presentations enable wider viewership, virtual sessions permit wider participation and greater interactivity, and the elimination of travel facilitates more diverse expert panel participation. The authors conclude with proposals for how conference organizers and participants can expand access by leveraging available distance learning technology and other virtual tools, both during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.
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A compelling case exists that increasing the number of Black physicians trained and practicing in the United States is one effective intervention to promote health equity and reduce the persistent health disparities that have become glaringly evident during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the U. S. physician workforce has relatively few Black physicians. ⋯ This loss of Black physicians may happen because Black patients are overrepresented among cases of COVID-19, Black physicians care for relatively more Black patients often in settings with less access to SARS-CoV-2 testing and personal protective equipment, and Black physicians have more comorbid chronic conditions that increase their own susceptibility to mortality from COVID-19. All organizations in which physicians train and practice must redouble their efforts to recruit, train, and retain Black physicians. If nothing else, the COVID-19 pandemic must make academic health centers and health care systems recognize Black physicians as the precious resource they are and protect and reward them accordingly.