In today’s diverse healthcare landscape, the role of allyship in medical education has never been more crucial. Karen Catlin’s book “Better Allies” offers invaluable insights that can transform how we approach inclusivity in medical schools. This blog post explores key takeaways from the book and provides practical applications for faculty members in medical education.
Book Summary
“Better Allies” by Karen Catlin is a comprehensive guide to understanding and practicing allyship in the workplace. The book emphasizes that allyship is not a one-time act but a continuous process of learning, acting, and improving. It provides practical strategies for recognizing privilege, addressing implicit bias, amplifying marginalized voices, and fostering an inclusive environment.
Key Points
- Understanding Allyship: Allyship involves using one’s position of privilege to support and advocate for marginalized groups.
- Recognizing Privilege: Acknowledging one’s own privileges and understanding how they can be leveraged to support others.
- Addressing Implicit Bias: Identifying and actively working to counteract unconscious prejudices.
- Amplifying Voices: Actively ensuring that marginalized voices are heard, acknowledged, and credited for their contributions.
- Taking Inclusive Action: Implementing changes in the workplace to foster diversity, equity, and inclusion.
- Continuous Improvement: Committing to ongoing learning and adaptation in allyship efforts.
- Leading by Example: Inspiring others to engage in allyship through consistent actions and visible commitment.
Application in Medical School Faculty Role
As a faculty member in a medical school, you have a unique opportunity to shape the future of healthcare by fostering an inclusive environment for students, colleagues, and patients. Here’s how you can apply the principles of allyship in your role:
- Curriculum Development: Ensure that medical education materials represent diverse patient populations and address health disparities.
- Mentorship: Actively mentor and sponsor students and junior faculty from underrepresented groups in medicine.
- Research: Promote inclusive research practices that consider diverse populations and address health equity issues.
- Clinical Practice: Model inclusive patient care that respects cultural differences and addresses implicit biases in healthcare delivery.
- Faculty Recruitment: Advocate for diverse hiring practices and support retention efforts for underrepresented faculty members.
- Classroom Environment: Create a safe and inclusive learning space where all students feel valued and heard.
Understanding Universal Privilege and Responsibility
It’s crucial to recognize that everyone has areas in their lives where they are privileged and areas where they are not. No one is excluded from this reality. As medical school faculty, we must understand our own complex identities and how they intersect with those of our students, colleagues, and patients. This awareness allows us to be more effective allies by recognizing when we can use our privilege to support others and when we might need support ourselves.
It’s important to remember that the responsibility for education and improvement lies with allies, not with those who experience marginalization or discrimination. We should not burden individuals from underrepresented groups with the task of teaching us how to be better allies. Instead, we should proactively seek out resources, attend training sessions, and educate ourselves on these important issues.
We all have a responsibility to:
- Acknowledge our own privileges
- Use those privileges to amplify marginalized voices
- Recognize areas where we lack privilege and seek allies
- Call out instances where someone is being held back, intentionally or not
- Continuously educate ourselves on issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion in healthcare and medical education
- Take the initiative to learn and improve without relying on marginalized individuals to teach us
By embracing this understanding, we create a more inclusive and equitable environment in medical education and healthcare, benefiting students, faculty, and ultimately, patients.
Inspirational Quote
Allyship is about so much more than not being racist, or sexist, or homophobic. It’s about continuously showing up for marginalized people, advocating for their inclusion, and helping change systems of inequality.
Karen Catlin
This quote from “Better Allies” reminds us that being an ally is an active, ongoing process that requires consistent effort and commitment. As medical school faculty, we have the power and responsibility to drive systemic change in healthcare education and practice, creating a more inclusive and equitable future for all.
Action Items for Faculty Members
- Conduct a self-assessment of your own privileges and biases.
- First step: Take an Implicit Association Test (IAT) to uncover hidden biases.
- Attend workshops or training sessions on diversity, equity, and inclusion in medical education.
- First step: Research upcoming DEI workshops offered by your institution or professional organizations.
- Review your course materials for diverse representation and inclusive language.
- First step: Choose one lecture or module to audit for inclusivity.
- Establish a mentorship program specifically for underrepresented students in medicine.
- First step: Reach out to your department chair to discuss implementing such a program.
- Collaborate with colleagues to develop research projects that address health disparities.
- First step: Identify a potential research question related to health equity in your field.
- Implement inclusive teaching practices, such as using diverse case studies and encouraging participation from all students.
- First step: Incorporate one new diverse case study into your next lecture.
- Advocate for policy changes that promote equity in your medical school and affiliated healthcare institutions.
- First step: Identify one policy that could be improved to enhance equity and inclusion.
Conclusion
Incorporating the principles of allyship into medical education is not just about creating a more pleasant work environment—it’s about improving healthcare outcomes for all patients. By recognizing our privileges, addressing our biases, and actively working to create inclusive spaces, we can train a new generation of physicians who are equipped to provide equitable, culturally competent care.
Remember, the journey to becoming a better ally is ongoing. It requires humility, openness to feedback, and a commitment to continuous learning. By taking these steps, we not only improve our own practice but also set an example for our students, shaping the future of healthcare for the better.
Let’s commit to being better allies in medical education, one step at a time. The health of our diverse patient population depends on it.
