In this assignment, students discuss medical racism in a Human Physiology course, linking topics like kidney function to harmful practices like "race-correction." The semester-long discussions help students rethink the relationship between race and biology.Author: Robin Ball, Lecturer in Molecular and Cell BiologyGrant Type: Lecturer Teaching Fellows Program (LTF)Project Details: Medical Racism Discussions |
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From the author: "Covid-19 exposed the inequities inherent in our medical system that arise from biases and racist policies. It is important to teach biology students about medical racism, so they do not continue to perpetuate these stereotypes in their future healthcare careers. I designed a semester-long discussion assignment in my Introduction to Human Physiology course to introduce students to medical racism through readings and guided asynchronous discussions. Each discussion topic relates to the physiology we are covering that week. For example, when we learn about the kidneys, students read about the unscientific “race-correction” that is used to estimate kidney function and the consequences for the health of Black patients. Survey results revealed that students appreciated learning this material in a science course and their thoughts about race and biology shifted, with only 6% believing that there are physiological differences between races by the end of the semester."