Empower Yourself in the Vulnerability of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: An Approach using Reflection

DEI needs to be intentionally embedded into the education of medical students and residents as well as for faculty and interdisciplinary health care personnel to fuel cultural change concerning systemic racism and injustice in the health care system. Reflections including the medical humanities present a novel way to foster conversation and engagement around these challenging topics.

Our workshop will focus on facilitating an atmosphere of psychological safety for the discussion of specific DEI issues using reflection as a modality for education. Most of this workshop will take place in small groups. Each group will read an excerpt from the book Black Man in a White Coat: A Doctor's Reflection on Race and Medicine. The selected readings highlight specific areas of discrimination and microaggressions that can be easily overlooked in the health care setting if we are not vigilant and sensitive to it. Reflection with discussion will take place through structured open-ended questions guided by a facilitator. We will also share data on how this reflective exercise impacted our 2022 intern class who completed this workshop as a part of their orientation for our residency program. The goal of this workshop is to help participants develop sessions to engage trainees in DEI at their home institutions.