Structural Racism in Medicine and Health Care
On March 16, 2021, Center Director Lisa Cooper, MD, MPH, along with Clyde W. Yancy, MD, MSc of Northwestern and David R. Williams, PhD, MPH, of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, participated in a conversation with the Journal of American Medical Association (JAMA) to discuss Structural Racism in Medicine and Health Care. The discussion was moderated by JAMA Editor in Chief, Howard Bauchner, MD. Dr. Bauchner started off the conversation by saying the following:
This livestream is focused on structural racism in medicine and I think this particular conversation needs context. On February 24 of this year, JAMA tweeted about a recently posted podcast discussing structural racism in medicine. The language of the tweet, as well as portions of the podcast, do not reflect my commitment as Editorial leader of JAMA and the JAMA network to call out and discuss the adverse effects of injustice, inequity and racism in medicine and society. I take full responsibility for these lapses and sincerely apologize for both the lapses and the harm caused by both the tweet and aspects of the podcast. Comments made in the podcast were inaccurate, offensive, hurtful, and inconsistent with the standards of JAMA. I want to be clear, racism and structural racism exists in the United States and in health care. JAMA will schedule a podcast… to further discuss issues of structural racism.
After making this statement, Dr Bauchner posed the question “What is the current landscape of structural racism?”. The conversation was insightful and a good display of identifying and rejecting systemic racism in medicine. To listen, click play on the video above.