Abstract
[This is an excerpt.] The ongoing pandemics — both COVID-19 and racism — have laid bare the dehumanizing and damaging effects of structural racism throughout our country. Regrettably, we see these effects in academic medicine as well. As we wrote in our June 1, 2020, statement, all academic medicine leaders — including the AAMC — must step up and transform rhetoric into action. We as individuals, as an association, as part of the academic medicine community, and as members of society need to do our own work, individually and collectively, to create a shared vision of the AAMC and academic medicine institutions as diverse, equitable, inclusive, and anti-racist organizations. We acknowledge this work can and will be difficult for even the most skilled, experienced, and well-intentioned. This framework will serve as a strategic imperative; guide our own internal efforts at the AAMC; and help amplify, support, and accelerate the efforts of our member institutions to catalyze change in academic medicine. The shared vision should emanate from our own thinking at the AAMC and from lessons learned from our members and affinity groups, the communities of which we are a part, and the communities we serve. Through our efforts, we can address and work toward eliminating racism not only within academic medicine but also in our communities and the nation. The sense of urgency called out in our June 1, 2020, statement has ignited discussions among our staff, leaders of our member institutions, and our constituents, and it has led us to identify four sets of concrete actions to pursue as the AAMC. [To read more, click View Resource.]
This resource is found in our Actionable Strategies for Professional Associations: Spotlights: Professional Associations Relational Strategies (Improving Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion).
