Systemic Racism and Physician Wellness: Merging the Crossroads of Clinician Well-being & Anti-racism Initiatives

Monday, May 1, 2023

1:00 PM – 2:30 PM ET

Location: Convention Center: 103 A

CE: Live CME: 1.50

Leader(s)

Uchechi Oddiri, MD, FAAP

Clinical Assistant Professor of Pediatrics
Stony Brook Children's Hospital, Stony Brook University Renaissance School of Medicine, United States

Co-Leader(s)

Adam Cohen, MD, MEd (he/him/his)

Assistant Profession, Department of Pediatrics and Department of Education, Innovation, and Technology
Baylor College of Medicine
Houston, Texas, United States
KK

Kajal Khanna, MD, JD, MSc (she/her/hers)

Clinical Associate Professor
Stanford University School of Medicine
Palo Alto, California, United States
HK

Heidi Kloster, MD (she/her/hers)

Associate Professor
University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health
McFarland, Wisconsin, United States
Ariella Slovin, MD (she/her/hers)

Primary Care Attending, Associate Director Pediatrics Clerkship, GW SMHS
Children's National Medical Center
Washington DC, District of Columbia, United States

Disclosure(s):

Uchechi Oddiri, MD, FAAP: No financial relationships to disclose

Adam Cohen, MD, MEd: No financial relationships to disclose

Kajal Khanna, MD, JD, MSc: I do not have any relevant financial / non-financial relationships with any proprietary interests.

Heidi M. Kloster, MD: I do not have any relevant financial / non-financial relationships with any proprietary interests.

Ariella T. Slovin, MD: I do not have any relevant financial / non-financial relationships with any proprietary interests.

Workshop

Description: The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the already critical epidemic of burnout amongst clinicians. Additionally, those who identify as Underrepresented in Medicine (UIM) are disproportionately susceptible to the trauma stemming from systemic bigotry and injustice, including in the workplace. Initiatives addressing racism in medicine often focus on incorporating anti-racist values into patient care, which overlooks the impact of racism on clinicians themselves. Furthermore, the burden of anti-racism work often falls on the shoulders of UIM, further contributing to burnout.

This workshop addresses the intersection between provider well-being, clinician-experienced racial trauma, and anti-racism work. We will describe racial trauma experienced by providers in the workplace, highlighting existing efforts focused on preventing and mitigating provider racial trauma. Small groups will then utilize existing resources to prompt brainstorming of individual and organizational strategies to address this problem. After reporting results to the large group, small groups will review ideas generated by others, provide real-time feedback, and consolidate overlapping recommendations to create a centralized list of recommendations.

We aim to create a “hive mind,” leveraging participants’ experiences and expertise to compile best strategies that incorporate antiracist values into clinician wellness and apply existing well-being strategies to the specific issue of provider racial trauma. Participants will develop an action plan with strategies to implement these best practices to enhance provider well-being affected by racial trauma at their respective institutions. Participants will be surveyed to assess their perception of the creation process and the potential utility of this collated resource.

Learning Objectives:

Describe the impact of racism-related trauma on pediatric providers’ well-being.
Identify individual and organizational well-being strategies that can target prevention and mitigation of provider racial trauma experienced from patients, colleagues, and organizations.
Develop an action plan to implement best practices to prevent and mitigate the impact of racial trauma in their own institution/department to enhance provider well-being.