Analyzing the Implementation of Antiracist Training by ENT Residents: A Qualitative Interview-based Study

• In Event: 40817 - Health Care and Care Delivery: Medical Organizations, Providers and Patients

Abstract

The medical education system is a critical point of intervention when it comes to addressing health disparities. Given the legacy of racism that still plagues the American medical institution today, it is crucial that future physicians are trained to acknowledge and interrogate the history of racism in medicine. This project focuses in particular on the role of medical education in contributing to racial health disparities and inequality in medicine. Building off of a historical framework grounded in structural racism, educators have called for antiracist training programs where physicians are taught to acknowledge the social context of their patients and the structural barriers they face, advocate for their patients of color, and practice continued humility and self-reflection. This form of training is known as antiracist education. To ensure patients of color are receiving unbiased and equitable care, it is critical that medical trainees are exposed to antiracist frameworks continuously throughout their medical careers. I am interested in exploring how trainees are introduced to antiracist ideas and frameworks in medical school, and tracing the extent to which this knowledge translates into their patient care practices as residents. In order to investigate this topic, I am conducting semi-structured, in-depth interviews with medical residents in the field of otolaryngology or Ears, Nose, and Throat (ENT). The main research questions guiding this project are 1) How do medical residents perceive their preparedness and ability to provide antiracist care? and 2) To what extent is antiracist knowledge implemented into resident care practices? The study seeks to contribute to the sociology of health professions education by shedding light on how medical trainees adapt to new knowledge regimes like antiracism education and implement this knowledge in practice, and exploring how dominant knowledge systems, such as the biomedical model, contribute to social inequality.

Author

• Savannah Salato, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill