What does critical race theory have to do with academic medicine?

Abstract

Critical Race Theory (CRT) has recently become a target of national attention due to recent Presidential Executive Orders and state and local governmental bodies banning its use in public school settings. However, such attention has only led to critical race theory being misconstrued by the media and misunderstood by the common lay person. Critical Race Theory is a specific pedagogical and theoretical approach to understand how racialized historical contexts influence contemporary society. Clarifying and positioning CRT in a manner within which to understand health inequities experienced by racialized groups in the United States is paramount for the field of academic medicine and medical practice. A critical examination of the historical and contemporary issues of race and racism in America provides the necessary context within which to understand the long-standing and persistent existence of health disparities experienced among racial/ethnic populations in the United States. Ignoring historical and contemporary political and social influences of race and racism on health will only hinder the country's ability to narrow expanding gaps in racial/ethnic health disparities. Academic medicine has a professional and ethical responsibility to educate its trainees and health professionals on the history of medicine – including its ugly side – and to critically examine how historical and contemporary political and social factors have created racial/ethnic health disparities. Until such reckoning occurs the field of medicine's ability to achieve health equity for all will continue to be futile.