The Arnold P. Gold Foundation is pleased to announce the launch of a new NextGenU.org course, “Dismantling Structural Racism to Advance Health Equity,” developed by Gold Course Directors Ruth S. Shim, MD, MPH, and Karinn Glover, MD, MPH, and in collaboration with the NextGenU.org team, including Pablo Baldiviezo, MD, M.Sc., DiplEd.; Sherian Bachan, M.Sc., B.Sc.; Reisha Narine, M.Sc., B.Sc.; and Anthony Schlaff, MD, MPH. This free course — sponsored by the Gold Foundation — provides an introductory exploration of health equity, including structural racism, health inequities, and social determinants of health.
The course includes three videos and 19 course readings.
The course is designed for healthcare executives, healthcare professionals, policymakers, community leaders, and health professions students who are interested in advancing health equity and dismantling structural racism. Participants will be introduced to the historical basis for structurally racist policies and their adverse impacts on health and guided through self-reflective practices. With a vision for the future, the course material also offers practical ways to promote health equity in participants’ own communities and the world beyond.
The course, which includes three videos and 19 course readings, is estimated to take 18 hours to complete.
This marks the second Gold-sponsored course on the NextGenU.org platform. The first course, “Humanism in Health and Healthcare,” was developed in 2020 by Dr. Jason Adam Wasserman, Dr. Erica Frank, and Stephen Loftus, Ph.D., along with content creators Ashley Inez Garzaniti, MSIV; Nathan Loudon, MSIV; Matthew Drogowski, MD; Dorothy Levine, MD; Lesley Miller, MD; and Hedy S. Wald, Ph.D.
The latest course shares tools for humanists in the healthcare space who see a broken system and are committed to realizing a path forward.
Dr. Karinn Glover
Dr. Shim and Dr. Glover noted: “There are actually few resources that take the participant on a journey through the literature, inviting them to reflect on their own thoughts and experiences and then provide clear approaches for action. Additionally, most resources are focused on interpersonal racism, and we were specifically trying to keep the focus on the structural (or system) level of racism, as this level is most responsible for health inequities.”
The course helps address the gaps in the literature with a vast array of curated discussions and modules that probe the complex layers. Topics include the five faces of oppression, genetic ancestry, medical experimentation on Black and Latinx people, and the historical context of structural racism in the United States.
The creative process in engineering the course brought forth its own unique challenges. “There are parts of this curriculum that deal with lived experiences of marginalization, systemic and interpersonal racism, and discrimination,” said Dr. Glover. “The difficulty was to convey the urgency and complexity of these challenges for an audience that may never have experienced such relentless stressors.”
Dr. Ruth Shim
As they developed the course, Drs. Shim and Glover extensively researched and vetted sources. They also carefully curated the vignettes that are used to cultivate discussion throughout the course. As Dr. Glover explains, the objective was to create the means by which participants could practice self-reflection, which is essential for planting seeds of change.
“This online course is an important new resource in the entrenched problem of structural racism and its detrimental impact on health and the healthcare experience. We are grateful to Dr. Shim and Dr. Glover for their vision and great contributions to help more healthcare leaders become agents of change, and to NextGenU for the free global online platform that makes this vital information accessible,” said Elizabeth Cleek, PsyD, Gold Foundation Chief Operating Officer and Senior Vice President Elizabeth Cleek. “The Gold Foundation believes that true humanism in healthcare is diverse, equitable, inclusive, and anti-racist, and this course is rooted in those values.”
Access the “Dismantling Structural Racism to Advance Health Equity” course here. Please let us know at info@gold-foundation.org if you or your school is using the curriculum. We would love to hear your stories and study its impact with you.
