Anti-racism Resources

Advancing anti-racism is a continuous process that requires a variety of approaches and strategies. Below is a list of resources to further assist institutions in catalyzing change in academic medicine.

Racism

“A system of structuring opportunity and assigning value based on the social interpretation of how one looks (which is what we call ‘race’), that unfairly disadvantages some individuals and communities, unfairly advantages other individuals and communities, and saps the strength of the whole society through the waste of human resources.”

— APHA Past President Camara Phyllis Jones, MD, MPH, PhD

Anti-racism

“The active process of naming and confronting racism by changing systems, organizational structures, policies and practices and attitudes, so that power is redistributed and shared equitably.”

— AMA-AAMC Advancing Health Equity: A Guide to Language, Narrative and Concepts

Racial justice

“The systematic fair treatment of people of all races, resulting in equitable opportunities and outcomes for all. Racial justice—or racial equity—goes beyond ‘anti-racism.’ It is not just the absence of discrimination and inequities but also the presence of deliberate systems and supports to achieve and sustain racial equity through proactive and preventive measures.”

— AMA-AAMC Advancing Health Equity: A Guide to Language, Narrative and Concepts

Doing the Work

African american girl standing indoors and looking at the camera. She's showing a message that says Stop Racism on her hands.

As an Individual

As an Organization

As Part of the Academic Medicine Community

As Part of the Broader Community

Leading by Example

AAMC-member institutions are developing and leading varied curricula initiatives, equity-centered action plans, professional learning opportunities, and research centers to drive systemic change focused on addressing and eliminating racism in academic medicine. Below are several member examples of current anti-racism efforts.

Boston University: Center for Antiracist Research
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai: Anti-Racist Transformation in Medical Education, The Center for Anti-racism in Practice, and National Chats for Change
RUSH University System for Health: The Racial Equity in Healthcare Progress Report
The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center: 21-Day Anti-Racism Challenge and Anti-racism Initiatives
University of California, San Francisco: The REPAIR Project (REParations and Anti-Institutional Racism) and Anti-Racism Primer and Toolkit for Medical Educators
University of Rochester Medical Center: Equity and Anti-racism Action Plan
University of Southern California: Race and Equity Center
Emory University School of Medicine: DEI Video Archive

AAMC Resources

The AAMC continues to develop and disseminate resources to transform rhetoric into action as we do our own work to become an anti-racist, diverse, equitable, and inclusive organization and serve our member institutions along their journeys.