Infusing Diversity and Equity Into Clinical Teaching: Training the Trainers

Abstract

Clinical instructors in health care disciplines are charged with engaging students in experiential learning wherein respect and cultural sensitivity is applied. This article reports on the results of 3 diversity workshops conducted for clinical preceptors and field instructors from various disciplines. The workshops were developed in response to students' growing concerns that their academic learning experiences were negatively affected by dissatisfying management of differences between students, faculty, and preceptors with respect to ethno-racial group membership, socioeconomic level, and degree of privilege and power. The workshops included a didactic session that presented basic principles of social and health equity followed by small-group reflection about various ethical and moral dilemmas that were presented in clinical education scenarios. Examples of discrimination on a variety of levels were addressed in these workshops, including race, ethnicity, immigration status, sexual orientation, religion, body size and appearance, ability, age, socioeconomic class, religious faith, and gender. The group exercises and discussion from these sessions provided valuable insight and approaches to difficult but common areas of discomfiture encountered in the clinical teaching setting. This article presents the findings from participants of these diversity workshops in order to encourage the application of equity principles into clinical teaching in midwifery and other health care education contexts.

What is the effectiveness of antiracist interventions for ethnic minority healthcare staff? A systematic review

“…Six discussion-based workshops followed similar structures of a lecture about the topic then group work. One was UK-based (41), one from Canada (42) and four from the US (43-46). The participant numbers varied and were based on opportunistic sampling.…”

“…They all reported positive responses from post intervention surveys. Participants reported improved knowledge and understanding of anti-racist strategies (42, 45). Four papers highlighted knowledge gaps that require ongoing antiracist education – not single workshops (41, 43, 46, 47).…”

Core components of an anti-racist approach among health professions educators: an integrative review

“… 10 , 13 These studies provide insight into certain characteristics of educators’ competence specific to a particular context. Examples of strategies to support educators include workshops to explore unconscious biases, 18 training on individual and systemic discrimination issues and their effects on health 19 and reflection on their attitudes toward racism. 20 Such strategies mostly prepare educators for the content to be taught without identifying the resources needed or providing tools and methods to implement an anti-racist approach.…”

Incorporating an Equity Agenda into Health Professions Education and Training to Build a More Representative Workforce

“…For students who do start their training, retention rates are negatively affected by systemic racism and other related issues encountered in the classroom and clinical settings . Midwives of color who have completed their training report experiencing microaggressions, biases, prejudice, discrimination, hostility, overt racism, and/or social exclusion during their midwifery education and/or preceptorships . The purpose of this article is to describe the 1) Equity Agenda Guideline , 2) related conceptual model, and 3) Equity in Midwifery Education web‐based resource that were designed to assist midwifery and health professions educators and administrators to alter their learning environments.…”