Teaching of the Black Population’s Health: Anti-Racist Lenses for a Paradigm Shift to Address Racial Inequities

Abstract

Health (and its dialectical pair—illness) is determined by multiple factors: social class, educational background, income, occupation, and race/skin color. Racism can directly impact physical and psychological illnesses, with an effect on social conditions of health. This paper discusses: (1) racism as a root cause of health inequities in Brazil and elsewhere, and (2) how students at the University of Brasilia School of Medicine respond to an anti-racist curriculum. We emphasize that an environment of profound exchanges in the teaching–learning process, adopting anti-racism praxis as a competency in the medical curriculum, is a paradigm shift in medical education and future practice.