Anti-Racism: Awareness
We understand the need to include implicit bias training for hiring, search and selection, and admissions committees, as well as for supervisors, mentors, and researchers. This training would include examples of racial bias and discrimination relevant to each domain.
The FoMD is committed to including implicit bias training in search and selection committees in all departments and admission committees. We aim to include it as a requirement for all faculty members, including mentors and supervisors who are engaged in research.
The ARCTC recommends the development of anti-racism workshops, e-learning modules, open forums and sessions for learners, faculty and staff. This training will be co-created and facilitated/co-facilitated by experts. We will develop a variety of education resources for:
- understanding allyship
- intersectionality related to social determinants and their impact on health
- familiarity with language associated with racism
Leaders within the faculty should lead by example in attending anti-racism sessions. We also aim to engage beyond the broader university community to develop and share these resources.
The MD Program’s pre-clerkship curriculum has been reviewed and is in the process of being integrated with these resources. New sessions are being revised/co-created with input from the Indigenous Health Initiatives Program (IHIP), Black Health Lead of the MD Program, Indigenous Medical and Dental Students' Association (IMDSA) and Black Medical Students’ Association (BMSA).
Efforts developed and delivered include content in systems blocks, Team Based Learning (TBL) and a workshop on anti-racism. A revision of the clerkship curriculum was recommended, and e-learning modules are ready for dissemination and feedback.
The faculty seeks increased collaboration with Black, Indigenous and racialized and underrepresented minority groups through events with open discussion.
Our future
We will review the curriculum of all FoMD undergraduate programs, graduate programs and Postgraduate Medical Education (PGME) and complete the revision and implementation of anti-racism in the clerkship curriculum.
We will encourage continuous attendance to these educational offerings by faculty leaders and will require an anti-racism e-class certificate of completion from faculty members applying to leadership positions and committees. Our vision is to expand the course so it becomes a requirement university-wide.
The topics of communication, visibility and respect are crucial areas to identify and fight racism. We strive to mindfully consider racial diversity in selection of guest lecturers and broaden visible concepts of role models. Anti-racism lectures and sessions, as well as FoMD BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Colour) achievements must be communicated widely to faculty, learners and staff.
A BIPOC learner, faculty and staff annual reception will be developed as part of engagement efforts.
Evaluation processes should be reviewed to remove metrics that are discriminatory towards racialized groups.
We commit to encouraging the addition of clauses in the preamble of evaluation forms (rounds, grand rounds, etc.), explicitly in recognition of the importance of inviting diversified guest speakers, to enrich the audience’s knowledge and experience. We will request an evaluation of the content, rather than other areas such as language proficiency.
The ARCTC recommends a faculty-wide calendar of religious and civic holidays, and encourages program directors to recognize them and provide time for them to learners who request it.
This calendar should include all religious, civic and heritage holidays, including Indigenous holidays (March 20 Spring Equinox, June 20 Summer Equinox, June 21 Indigenous Peoples Day, September 22 Fall Equinox, December 21 Winter Solstice).
See instructions to add some religious and civic holidays to your calendar.
The Faculty events calendar features these additional calendars as well.
We also recognize the importance of providing dietary options, such as halal, kosher, vegetarian and vegan, when possible at faculty events.
Our future
We will make sure communications about the holiday calendar and other emails are accessible and clear for everyone. In conjunction with the institutional Equity, Diversity and Inclusivity office, we will review and discuss alignment with institutional policy to ensure protection of everyone’s personal rights and freedoms. To ensure that this calendar includes all religious holidays, we will undertake a comprehensive search through consultation with U of A EDI leads’ announcements regarding the existence of this calendar, to be communicated to the FoMD periodically.
ARCTC promotes the review of policy, guidelines and procedures. This includes a language review, and ensuring admissions and hiring for racial equity. We will assess outcomes annually and provide publicly accessible documents, including policies dealing with racism, so learners, faculty, and staff appreciate the rationale and evidence behind them.
This includes a review of policies and other documents pertaining to racialized groups to identify and address areas of inequity where individuals performing similar work are differentially compensated in salary and benefits.
The Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry has a zero-tolerance policy against racism.
Our faculty will direct resources and recruitment towards efforts to:
- eliminate racism
- increase inclusivity in our learner programs and faculty
- support students and faculty/staff of racial/ethnic diversity
- create policy and protocols to ensure best practices
Support will include collaborative work with Faculty Learning and Faculty Research Committees on opportunities for professional development and training.
The faculty is currently working on plans to address the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action and United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. We will continue to benchmark periodically against the population that we serve and Statistics Canada.
We recommend that internal grants be established for BIPOC subject matter and applicants, including operating and graduate student recruitment/retention scholarships. All internal grant applications should be reviewed for racial bias and discrimination.
Our future
In addition to the efforts already underway for the development of these grants, the faculty is exploring opportunities to expand them to the College of Health Sciences.