Recognizing and Mitigating Implicit Bias in Continuing Medical Education

Often, when we think of “bias” in CE we consider the potential for pharmaceutical industry influence on educational content. But today, bias has an alternative meaning. There is extensive evidence and research that finds implicit biases can lead to differential treatment of patients by race, gender identity, immigration status, sexual identity, weight, age, language, culture/religion, income, and insurance status. Bias in clinical decision-making can result in overuse or underuse problems that can directly lead to patient harm. There continues to be a lack of adequate healthcare for households living in poverty, especially ethnic and racial and sexual minorities. These issues are also prevalent in inequality in medical education. It is imperative that Continuing Professional Development (CPD) professionals provide education to learners about these inequalities to improve sensitivities and to provide quality healthcare to populations who are currently underserved or lacking access to culturally responsive healthcare. CPD professionals must incorporate innovative thinking so that clinicians are better prepared to take on the changes necessary to achieve real equity in healthcare.

States such as Maryland and Massachusetts have instituted requirements for implicit bias training as part of their licensure renewal process. CPD providers should understand these requirements and how to help both faculty and learners stay current with both language and content in this area.

Kaplan North America (KNA), a division of Graham Holdings (GH), trains and influences thousands of students about how to enter and thrive in the workplace. KNA and GH have developed a series of modules to train their 15,000+ employees about how to both understand and recognize implicit bias in the workplace. These modules will be offered as an example of an effective strategy for mitigating bias in the clinic to improve patient care.

This panel discussion will review the causes and effects of implicit bias as well as provide guidance about what CPD professionals can include in their education for learners to both recognize and mitigate bias, thus helping to close the gap and move toward bias-free care and improved patient outcomes.

 

Unlock Your Potential :

This session will enhance CPD professionals’ ability to recognize and mitigate implicit bias in their workplace as well as reduce or eliminate bias in CE to improve patient outcomes.