Uncomfortable Conversations, the student-led virtual learning series aimed at pursuing anti-racism education in general and in the context of healthcare, is back! This year, the Student National Medical Association (SNMA) and Gold Humanism Honor Society (GHHS) will be partnering with Unite to hold monthly sessions throughout the academic year. We will be bringing back past sessions covering topics like implicit bias and systemic racism in the justice system while also adding new sessions to tackle issues that have manifested this past year including anti-Asian hate, COVID vaccine hesitancy, and voter suppression.
The series began last summer when a member of GHHS, Radha Patel, was inspired by the words of a student who spoke at the White Coats For Black Lives protest organized by internal medicine residents, SNMA, and physicians of the Bluff City Medical Society to honor the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery. The goal of the Gold Humanism Honor Society is to improve health care through placing human interests, values, and dignity at the core of teaching and practice. The COVID pandemic and murders fueled by racism brought light to the hard fact that the interests, values, and dignity of the black community are being left out of our teaching and practice. We, as future healthcare professionals, can do more and be more for our patients.
This series is completely developed by students. We do not profess to be experts on the field, rather, we hope that these sessions will provide material for introspection and contemplation. Each month, there will be pre-session material to read/watch/complete, and we will be gathering virtually in small groups to discuss different topics related to anti-racism in the United States.
Please join us for our first session, Privilege and Implicit Bias, on Sunday, August 22nd, from 6-7:30p. RSVP at www.tinyurl.com/uncomfortableconvos for the pre-session materials and Zoom link. Feel free to forward this information to anyone who might be interested!
If you would like to be added to our email group and be notified of future sessions, please follow this link to join!
“This is a call to action. With everything going on, people are looking for change and we all can start in the medical community… especially with medical education. We have to break down the institutional racism that exists through prejudicial attitudes and discriminatory behavior in our justice system, healthcare system, educational system, and all forms of media. It does not stop with this protest. We must continue to examine our own hearts and minds. We must hold each other accountable and continue to have uncomfortable conversations in order to create new systems that benefit EVERYONE.” -Elizabeth O. Clayton, UTHSC COM Class of 2023, White Coats For Black Lives protest, June 2020