Beyond diversity and inclusion: Developing a research agenda for anti-racism in emergency medicine education

Abstract

Background: Addressing racism in emergency medicine education is vital for providing optimal training and assessment of physicians in the specialty, developing physicians with the skills necessary to advocate for their patients, and recruiting and retaining a diverse group of physicians. To form a prioritized research agenda, the Society of Academic Emergency Medicine (SAEM) conducted a consensus conference at the annual meeting in May 2022 on addressing racism in emergency medicine, which included a subgroup on education. Methods: The education workgroup worked on summarizing the current literature on addressing racism in emergency medicine education, identifying critical knowledge gaps, and creating a consensus-driven research agenda for addressing racism in emergency medicine education. We used a nominal group technique and modified Delphi to develop priority questions for research. We then distributed a pre-conference survey to conference registrants to rate priority areas for research. During the consensus conference, group leaders provided an overview and background describing the rationale for the preliminary research question list. Attendees were then involved in discussions to help modify and develop research questions. Results: Nineteen questions were initially selected by the education workgroup as potential areas for research. The education workgroup's next round of consensus building resulted in a consensus of ten questions to be included in the pre-conference survey. No questions in the pre-conference survey reached consensus. After robust discussion and voting by workgroup members and attendees at the consensus conference, six questions were determined to be priority research areas. Conclusions: We believe recognizing and addressing racism in emergency medicine education is imperative. Critical gaps in curriculum design, assessment, bias training, allyship, and the learning environment negatively impact training programs. These gaps must be prioritized for research as they can have adverse effects on recruitment, the ability to promote a safe learning environment, patient care, and patient outcomes.