CAEP 2021 Academic Symposium: recommendations for addressing racism and colonialism in emergency medicine

Abstract

Purpose Racism and colonialism impact health, physician advancement, professional development and medical education in Canada. The Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians (CAEP) has committed to addressing inequities in health in their recent statement on racism. The objective of this project was to develop recommendations for addressing racism and colonialism in emergency medicine. Methods The authors, in collaboration with a 40 member working group, conducted a literature search, held a community consultation, solicited input from expert medical, academic and community advisors, conducted a national survey of emergency physicians, and presented draft recommendations at the 2021 CAEP Academic Symposium on Equity, Diversity and Inclusion for a live facilitated discussion with a post-session survey. Results Sixteen recommendations were generated in the areas of patient care, hospital and departmental commitment to Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, physician advancement, and professional development and medical education. Conclusion Emergency physicians are uniquely positioned to promote equity at each encounter with patients, peers and learners. The 16 recommendations presented here are practical steps to countering racism and colonialism everyday in emergency medicine. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s43678-021-00244-2.

Global health competencies in postgraduate medical education: a scoping review and mapping to the CanMEDS physician competency framework

“…Similarly, the absence of attention on equity, diversity, and inclusion within the CanMEDS Health Advocate role, covered in the Global Health competency Health equity, diversity, human rights, and social justice, is a gap which recent literature has explored and should inform future competency refinements. [26][27][28] While the Global Health competency understanding the interrelationship between health, human rights, and social and gender inequities encompasses aspects under the CanMEDS Medical Expert role, it also draws upon the Health Advocate role and would benefit from future inclusion into a more equity-focused competency framework.…”

Leadership for change: working toward equity, diversity, and inclusion

“…CAEP has been a strong voice for the consideration of social context in EM, including increasing recognition of EM in rural and remote settings. The impacts of bias in healthcare in Canada have long been recognized by patients, trainees, and healthcare providers [ 2 – 4 ]. Recent events including the COVID-19 pandemic have heightened attention to inequities and racism in healthcare practices, systems, and organizations for the general population.…”

“…The conference included its first ever symposium on EDI in EM. The symposium was attended by more than 70 emergency physicians and resulted in recommendations at the individual physician, department, and hospital level for addressing racism and colonialism [ 2 ], improving gender equity [ 9 ], and advancing education about gender and sexual minorities [ 10 ] in EM in Canada. This symposium was informed by the input of patient and community advisors as well as a virtual national public forum on equity in EM.…”

Collection of patient race, ethnicity, and language data in emergency departments: a national survey

“…In 2017, the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination noted Canada’s record of not collecting sociodemographic data on its population, resulting in an inability to evaluate the status of various groups’ rights [ 2 ]. The CAEP 2021 statement on racism and colonialism in emergency medicine [ 3 ] recommends that emergency departments (EDs) collect and use equity data to identify disparities and improve care. The COVID-19 pandemic also revealed race-based inequity in health outcomes [ 4 ] and highlighted the need for race-based data collection.…”