Are you a healthcare executive, health science educator, health policymaker, or health professional student who is passionate about advancing health equity and dismantling structural racism? Then this course is for you! While it was conceptualized for leaders in the healthcare sector, it is an equally valuable resource for policymakers who have a direct role to play in systemic changes. Additionally, health science educators can utilize this course to ensure that they are training the next generation of healthcare executives and health policymakers who are better equipped to identify and challenge structural racism in their respective fields.
The Ulrich and Ruth Frank Foundation for International Health has teamed up with the Arnold P. Gold Foundation to create and launch a free online course called Dismantling Structural Racism to Advance Health Equity, hosted on the NextGenU.org website. The course provides an introductory exploration of the key concepts related to health equity, including structural racism, health inequities, and social determinants of health.
Structural racism is a form of racism that is deeply embedded in a society’s laws, policies, and systems resulting in “practices and beliefs that produce, condone, and perpetuate widespread unfair treatment and oppression… with adverse health consequences” (Braveman et al., 2022). In order for change to occur, health professionals must first understand the link between structural racism and health disparities and then find strategies to reduce and eventually completely dismantle it.
The course directors, Dr. Ruth S. Shim and Dr. Karin Glover, were ably assisted by the NextGenU.org team of instructional designers to ensure that this course emphasizes practical applications and solutions and provides participants with the knowledge and resources to make a positive impact and promote health equity in their own communities and beyond.
Ruth Shim, MD, MPH, is the Luke & Grace Kim Professor in Cultural Psychiatry and a Professor of Clinical Psychiatry in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of California, Davis. She is also the Associate Dean of Diverse and Inclusive Education at the UC Davis School of Medicine. Dr. Shim is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and serves on the Editorial Boards of Psychiatric Services, JAMA Psychiatry, Community Mental Health Journal, and American Psychiatric Publishing. She is co-editor of the books, The Social Determinants of Mental Health and Social (In)Justice and Mental Health. Her expertise lies in structural racism in medicine, mental health equity, and diversity, equity, and inclusion in academic medicine.
Co-director, Karin Glover, MD, MPH, entered the medical field after first completing a BA in History. She attended SUNY Downstate College of Medicine and then later obtained an MPH from Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health. Currently an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Dr. Glover teaches psychopharmacology and psychotherapy to Psychiatry and Family Medicine residents. Her career as a consultant and educator has informed her expertise in the fields of health equity, workplace mental health, and organizational success.
This course is for you if you believe that you need to understand and address the systemic inequities in healthcare that disproportionally impact people of color and marginalized groups. Through this course, you will also identify strategies to begin dismantling these policies in healthcare organizations and develop an action plan to implement these strategies. Enroll now to make a difference and join a community of change-makers!
References
Braveman, P.A., Arkin, E., Proctor, D. Kauh, T., and Holm, N. (2022). “Systemic and Structural Racism: Definitions, examples, health damages, and approaches to dismantling.” Health Affairs, 41 (2).
Glenda Niles
Author