Name
Building Community: Discussing the Pathogenesis of Health Disparities in the Context of Remote Learning
Date & Time
Friday, June 18, 2021, 10:15 AM - 11:15 AM
Timezone
EDT
Description

In American medical schools, focus has sharpened on disparities in medicine, particularly since the murders of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and George Floyd in the early months of the COVID pandemic, when most schools had switched to remote learning. Medical students are increasingly demanding that inequities be addressed, not only at the point of physician-patient contact, but also within the biomedical sciences. Medical textbooks, lectures and other teaching materials are replete with race-based “facts”, particularly regarding incidence and outcomes, without providing context for this information, thereby perpetuating stereotypes and encouraging hazardous heuristics. As pathology educators, we have the opportunity and the responsibility to teach students about disease beyond basic pathophysiology, genetic mechanisms and biochemistry as a step towards dismantling individual, institutional and systemic racism in healthcare. This challenge is particularly difficult in the context of remote learning due to the sensitive nature of the material and the need to build student and faculty trust. Strategies for framing health disparities and providing support for faculty and students in the context of remote learning will be offered. 

Andrea Deyrup