Medicine

In the field of medicine the term 'inclusive' rarely applied to teaching methodologies but usually refers to the content being taught in the classroom. Most publications examine how a medical school integrated information about under-represented and marginalized communities into their curricula. Diversity is most often discussed in regards to the diversity of the medical field and how medical schools and the profession as a whole can encourage under-represented minority groups to enroll in medical school - usually combined with how to demonstrate the value of engaging with and choosing primary care as one's field of study and specialization. For example, the Association of American Medical Colleges has a diversity and inclusion initiative focused primarily on workplace diversity and the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine has a similar initiative and concern that medical professionals represent the populations they serve.

The MSU Libraries has several books on teaching in medical education that discuss ways of teaching and promoting student engagement that may fall under the banner of inclusive teaching but do not use that nomenclature. We encourage teaching faculty to use these books and our bibliography to learn more about how to use most effectively use technology and pedagogical techniques to create a learning environment for medical students that is engaging. We also recognize that within the medical colleges there are departments and faculty members well versed in medical education theory and practice and encourage faculty to look within their college to utilize the excellent resources available locally.

• Swanwick, T., Forrest, K., & O'Brien, B.C. (eds.). (2019). Understanding medical education: evidence, theory and practice. Hoboken, NJ : Wiley-Blackwell. [EBOOK]
• McKimm, J., Forrest, K., & Thistlethwaite, J. (Eds.). (2017). Medical education at a glance. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley-Blackwell. [EBOOK]

Databases & Terms Searched: 

We searched PubMed: Opens in a New Tab using the following search string and found 169 results. The vast majority dealt with incorporating new content into classrooms to improve student knowledge of under-represented patient populations (LGBTQ, race, ethnicity, disabled, language-barriers etc...).

(inclusive[ti] OR inclusion[ti] OR diversity[ti]) AND (teach* OR pedagogy OR curricul* OR classroom) AND ("medical education" OR "medical school" OR "medical schools" OR "medical student" OR "medical students")

Themes: 

As noted above, the major themes for inclusive teaching are how to incorporate information about marginalized patient populations and social determinants of health into medical education. There are many resources for this, and additional sources on this page's bibliography, and we would like to highlight a few including examples of mentoring medical students from diverse backgrounds and workforce retention programs.

Diversity and Inclusion Topics Journal Special Collections & Issues

• NEJM Case studies in Social Medicine: A series of perspective articles that highlight the importance of social concepts and social context in clinical medicine.
• JAMA Health Disparities: Explore the latest in health disparities, including differences in health status and health care access by race, sex, income, and geography

Curricular Examples from MedEdPortal

• Garcia, A. N., Castro, M. C., & Sanchez, J. P. (2019). Social and Structural Determinants of Urban American Indian and Alaska Native Health: A Case Study in Los Angeles. MedEdPORTAL, 15, 10825. doi:10.15766/mep_2374-8265.10825
• Gavzy, S. J., Berenson, M. G., Decker, J., Domogauer, J., Alexander, A., Pulaski, M., . . . Sanchez, J. P. (2019). The Case of Ty Jackson: An Interactive Module on LGBT Health Employing Introspective Techniques and Video-Based Case Discussion. MedEdPORTAL, 15, 10828. doi:10.15766/mep_2374-8265.10828
• Hopper, M. K., Anderson, M. A., & Lipp, S. N. (2017). Mapping the Nephron Exercise Incorporates Multiple Learning Strategies. MedEdPORTAL, 13, 10635. doi:10.15766/mep_2374-8265.10635
• Mayfield, J. J., Ball, E. M., Tillery, K. A., Crandall, C., Dexter, J., Winer, J. M., . . . Ashraf, K. (2017). Beyond Men, Women, or Both: A Comprehensive, LGBTQ-Inclusive, Implicit-Bias-Aware, Standardized-Patient-Based Sexual History Taking Curriculum. MedEdPORTAL, 13, 10634. doi:10.15766/mep_2374-8265.10634
• Osman, N. Y., & Gottlieb, B. (2018). Mentoring Across Differences. MedEdPORTAL, 14, 10743. doi:10.15766/mep_2374-8265.10743
• Song, A. Y., Poythress, E. L., Bocchini, C. E., & Kass, J. S. (2018). Reorienting Orientation: Introducing the Social Determinants of Health to First-Year Medical Students. MedEdPORTAL, 14, 10752. doi:10.15766/mep_2374-8265.10752
• Soto-Greene, M., Culbreath, K., Guzman, D. E., Sanchez, J. P., & Romero-Leggott, V. (2018). Diversity and Inclusion in the Academic Medicine Workforce: Encouraging Medical Students and Residents to Consider Academic Careers. MedEdPORTAL, 14, 10689. doi:10.15766/mep_2374-8265.10689

Relevant Journals: 

Some of the most well-known medical education journals are:

• Academic Medicine
• Advances in Health Sciences Education
• BMC Medical Education
• Medical Education
• Medical Education Online
• Medical Education Portal (peer-reviewed medical education curriculum portal)
• Medical Science Educator
• Medical Teacher
• Teaching & Learning in Medicine
• The Clinical Teacher

Bibliography

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