Abigail Rubio, like all medical students, started her journey to be a doctor with an oath. In the traditional Hippocratic Oath, future physicians pledge to do no harm, treat people not symptoms, and respect patient privacy. This sets the tone for medical students’ time in school, as well as their practice later. But Rubio knew something was missing from the oath. She and her peers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, with the guidance of their faculty advisers, wrote their own medical oath and recited it in August 2020 with new emphasis on COVID-19, health care inequities, and racism as a public health crisis. This is part of a rising trend of medical students writing their own oaths on their ever-evolving responsibilities as doctors to address systemic ...
In late 2020, public health and racial justice advocates started meeting monthly to understand and support the movement to declare racism a public health crisis. They shared resources, hosted webinars, and led workshops to spur action against racism. Now, these advocates have formally become the Collaborative for Anti-Racism and Equity (CARE), a group of partner organizations including Salud America! at UT Health San Antonio CARE has launched a website to streamline access to tools and information, help people make connections, and inform solutions to advance health and racial equity. “The website is a place where those working in health equity, racial equity, and anti-racism can get access to some important resources to inform their work, if they are just getting started in ...
Doctors often have implicit, subconscious preferences for white patients over those of color, studies show. This is implicit bias. These biases — stereotypes that affect our understanding and decisions about others beyond our conscious control — lead to discrimination and health disparities. To address this issue, you’re invited to join us for "Overcoming Implicit Bias in the Doctor’s Office and Research Studies," at 2 p.m. CT on April 25, 2022. This is the third webinar of a new series, “Let’s Address Health Equity Together.” This Zoom webinar will feature guest speakers to help health care professionals understand implicit bias, “rewire” it toward compassion for patients and research participants of color and engage local leaders in implementing implicit bias ...
COVID-19 continues to have a large impact on Latinos and other communities of color, particularly when it comes to cases and deaths. However, the toll extends beyond the physical impacts of the virus. Racial and ethnic minority populations are more likely to experience COVID-19–related discrimination than their white counterparts, according to a new study from the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD). Learn what the study found on COVID-19–related discrimination, the impact of discrimination on health, and what we do to improve the situation for Latinos and others of color.
What Did the NIMHD Study Find on COVID-19-Related Racial/Ethnic Discrimination?
This is the largest study to date on discrimination related to COVID-19. Dr. Paula D. ...
Decades of explicit and implicit racism in social, economic, and political systems have led to inequitable outcomes in communities of color with heavy burdens of toxic stress, disease, and premature death. That’s why leaders across the country are adopting formal resolutions to declare racism a public health crisis and committing to specific policy changes. We at Salud America! at UT Health San Antonio created to an action pack to help. On March 17, 2022, we are cohosting a webinar, “How to Work with Local Leaders to Declare Racism a Public Health Crisis” with the Network for Public Health Law to share resources in our action pack to help you connect with local advocates of color, draft a resolution, start a conversation with local leaders, and build support for a ...
Racism is a public health crisis. Decades of racism-infused social, economic, and political systems have led to inequitable communities for Black, Latino, and other people of color, who face high burdens of stress, disease, and premature death. You can help local leaders declare racism a public health crisis and commit to change! Download the free action pack, “Create a Meaningful Resolution on Racism as a Public Health Crisis,” from the Salud America! Latino health equity national program at UT Health San Antonio. The action pack will help you connect with local advocates of color, draft a resolution, start a conversation with local leaders, and build support for a resolution to declare racism a public health crisis and take action for more equitable policies and ...
Forty years after the virus was discovered, an HIV vaccine is finally in development. Moderna and the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) are launching the first clinical trial for an HIV vaccine. “The search for an HIV vaccine has been long and challenging, and having new tools in terms of immunogens and platforms could be the key to making rapid progress toward an urgently needed, effective HIV vaccine," said Mark Feinberg, president and CEO of IAVI, according to a press release. This vaccine is particularly impactful for Latinos and other people of color, who are disproportionately affected by HIV and AIDS and are underrepresented in clinical trials. Learn more about the HIV vaccine clinical trial, how Latinos are impacted by HIV/AIDS, and how clinical trials can ...
Discussing racial equity and anti-racism can result in some backlash because of the great divide in our country regarding if and how to examine structural racism in American history and institutions. For example, in September 2020, President Donald Trump issued an executive order banning federal contractors from addressing “divisive concepts” and “harmful ideologies” related to racial/ethnic and gender discrimination in employee trainings. Although a federal judge temporarily blocked the executive order and President Joe Biden revoked it on his first day in office in January 2021, the nation was already divided on the concepts of systemic racism, including critical race theory, a critical theory that aims to examine and critique society. Thus, it is important to ...
Over 60 members of Salud America! endorsed our public comment to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in their request for feedback on as part of its draft Strategic Plan for 2022-2026. The draft was open for comment from Oct. 7 to Nov. 7, 2021. At Salud America!, we believe that improving healthcare by making it more accessible and culturally tailored for Latinos and other people of color will help build health equity. We believe this is possible through increasing diversity among research leaders and clinical trial participants, eliminating implicit bias in the doctor’s office, and hiring healthcare workers who can provide culturally relevant patient care. That’s why we submitted a comment from our leader, Dr. Amelie Ramirez.
Dr. Amelie Ramirez’s Comment ...
