Presented By: Kearney Gunsalus, Augusta University/University of Georgia Medical Partnership
Co-Authors: Ellen House, Augusta University/University of Georgia Medical Partnership
Jordan Mixon, Augusta University/University of Georgia Medical Partnership

Purpose
Weight stigma is a health issue worldwide. It is prevalent in healthcare and contributes to poor health outcomes through its physiological effects and impact on the behavior of both patients and physicians. Weight bias disproportionately affects minoritized communities; addressing it is therefore a social justice issue. Anti-obesity bias is often perpetuated by medical education, negatively impacting the mental and physical health of both medical students and patients. Changing the way we think and speak about the relationship between weight and health in medical education is a key step in addressing these problems. Long-term, we aim to improve student wellness and patients' health by developing, implementing, and disseminating evidence-based recommendations to mitigate weight stigma in medical training.

Methods 
To this end, we formed a team consisting of medical educators with expertise in biochemistry and psychiatry and a medical student. We reviewed the literature on the health impact of weight stigma, its pervasiveness in healthcare, how it can be reinforced by or reduced in medical education, and its negative impact on student wellness. To investigate the explicit and silent curriculum about the relationship between weight and health, we examined materials from our curriculum and other reputable sources. We identified problematic practices and developed alternative, evidence-based approaches.

Results
We will describe our progress working with colleagues to implement and evaluate these changes throughout our pre-clerkship curriculum. We are tracking dissemination of our recommendations, and forming multi-institution collaborations.

Conclusions
These issues impact health and medical education worldwide. Weight bias is often explicitly or implicitly reinforced throughout all aspects of an integrated medical curriculum. Making changes can be challenging; it requires collaboration among faculty, and buy-in can be inconsistent. Our recommendations are specific, evidence-based, designed to counter rather than perpetuate harm to students and patients, and could readily be implemented at other institutions.