Resolution:S-21-16: ADVANCING A MORE TRUTHFUL RACIAL JUSTICE NARRATIVE IN OSTEOPATHIC MEDICAL EDUCATION

[Valerie Lile]

1  WHEREAS, the history of America is inseparable from a story of differing,
2  oppressive, and exploitative treatment of various groups based on skin tone, national
3  origin, and gender^5,11;

4  WHEREAS, the history of American medicine is equally complicit in the
5  exploitation of various peoples based on superficial characteristics for it’s own
6  advancement, from the development of so-called HeLa cell cultures⁸, the undertaking
7  the Tuskegee Syphilis Study⁴, to the founding of gynecologic surgery by Dr. J.
8  Marion Sims⁹;

9  WHEREAS, people of color, especially those of African descent, have contributed to
10  medical knowledge without their explicit consent, or under coercion, for the
11  betterment of all medicine and patients¹⁰;

12  WHEREAS, Osteopathic medical education does not currently include training on
13  the history of American medicine with a specific lens for the unequal treatment of
14  various peoples based on race and national origin;

15  WHEREAS, lacking a basic knowledge of this history leaves students with an
16  insufficient understanding of the reasons for mistrust of healthcare providers and
17  underutilization of healthcare services among black and other minority Americans, to
18  the significant determent of patients^1,2,6;

19  WHEREAS, this is specifically relevant today in the context of the critical
20  vaccinations for millions of people for SARS-CoV-2, commonly called the 2020
21  Coronavirus^3,7;

22  RESOLVED, the Student Osteopathic Medical Association will support the
23  incorporation of basic education on the history of American medicine as it relates to
24  the unequal and exploitative treatment of various races of people in the development
25  of therapies and medical techniques, which are now part of the foundation of medical
26  knowledge.

References

1. Arnett, M. J., Thorpe, R. J., Gaskin, D. J., Bowie, J. V., & LaVeist, T. A. (2016). Race, medical mistrust, and segregation in primary care as usual source of Care: Findings from the Exploring health disparities in integrated COMMUNITIES STUDY. Journal of Urban Health, 93(3), 456-467. doi:10.1007/s11524-016-0054-9
2. Bailey, Z. D., Krieger, N., Agénor, M., Graves, J., Linos, N., & Bassett, M. T. (2017). Structural racism and HEALTH inequities in the USA: Evidence and interventions. The Lancet, 389(10077), 1453-1463. doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(17)30569-x
3. Bogart, L. M., Ojikutu, B. O., Tyagi, K., Klein, D. J., Mutchler, M. G., Dong, L., Kellman, S. (2021). Covid-19 related medical mistrust, health impacts, and potential vaccine hesitancy among black americans living with hiv. JAIDS Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes, 86(2), 200-207. doi:10.1097/qai.0000000000002570
4. Brandt, A. M. (1978). Racism and research: The case of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study. The Hastings Center Report, 8(6), 21. doi:10.2307/3561468
5. Clair M, Denis J. Sociology of racism. The International Encyclopedia of the Social and Behavioral Sciences. ; 2015:857-863.
6. Diana J. Burgess, D. J., Ding, Y., Hargreaves, M., Van Ryn, M., & Phelan, S. (2008). The Association between perceived discrimination and underutilization of needed medical and mental health care in a Multi-Ethnic Community sample. Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved, 19(3), 894-911. doi:10.1353/hpu.0.0063
7. Momplaisir, F., Haynes, N., Nkwihoreze, H., Nelson, M., Werner, R. M., & Jemmott, J. (2021). Understanding drivers of covid-19 vaccine hesitancy among blacks. Clinical Infectious Diseases. doi:10.1093/cid/ciab102
8. Skloot, R. (2010). The immortal life of Henrietta Lacks. New York, New York: Gale/Cengage.
9. Spettel, S., White, M. D. (2011). The portrayal of J. Marion sims’ Controversial Surgical legacy. Journal of Urology, 185(6), 2424-2427. doi:10.1016/j.juro.2011.01.077
10. Washington, H. A. (2006). Medical apartheid: the dark history of medical experimentation on Black Americans from colonial times to the present. New York: Doubleday.
11. Zinn, H. (2017). A people’s history of the United States. In A people’s history of the United States (pp. 23-38). New York, NY, New York: Harper.

 

Submitted by:

Ryan Halas, OMS II- Alabama College of Osteopathic Medicine
Christine Cho, OMS II- Alabama College of Osteopathic Medicine
Ruth Mokua, OMS II- Alabama College of Osteopathic Medicine
Joslin Stanton, OMS II- Alabama College of Osteopathic Medicine
Melanie Weyers, OMS II- Alabama College of Osteopathic Medicine 

Action Taken:

Date: 01/31/2021

Effective Time Period:

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