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AMA announces plan to “break down structural racism” starting with yourself

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In order to achieve “optimal health for all”, the AMA has published a plan to eradicate structural racism within the organization.

The AMA said these efforts are beginning to acknowledge their own past damage and take a “critical” look at how these services have been allowed to continue.

“This strategic plan is a step forward in a much longer journey towards establishing the AMA, the healthcare system and our nation’s health system.” Gerald E. Harmon, MD, AMA-elected president said in a press release.

He continued, “To fulfill the AMA’s mission to advance the art and science of medicine and the improvement of public health, we must use our resources, influence and power to work toward, which is, a more just future , to undo the historical damage we have caused, to walk towards truth, reconciliation, racial healing and transformation. ”

The AMA announced in its three-year “Ambitious Strategic Plan to Reduce Structural Racism” entitled “The AMA’s Organizational Strategic Plan to Embed Racial Justice and Promote Health Justice, 2021-2023” how society will:

  • “Embed justice and racial justice” throughout the organization;
  • Developing and maintaining relationships with “marginalized doctors and other stakeholders”;
  • Discussing all determinants of health and the underlying causes of inequalities;
  • Provision of “fair” innovation opportunities; and
  • Cultivating paths to “truth, racial healing, reconciliation and transformation” regarding AMA’s past, including its “racially discriminatory membership practices” against black doctors.

The organization encouraged others to join their efforts, stating, “We cannot do this alone.”

The full plan can be found on the AMA website. Although work on the plan began in June 2018 after the AMA House of Representatives voted to develop it, recent events, including the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 presidential election, and protests against police brutality, have the purpose of the plan brought more into focus. AMA said.

Athena Maybank

“In order to achieve fair solutions, existing standards must be disrupted and dismantled and collective measures taken.” Aletha Maybank, MD, MPH, AMA’s chief health equity officer said in the news release. “It also requires a sense of urgency and ambition, and the time is now.”

References:

AMA. The AMA’s Strategic Plan to Embed Racial Justice and Promote Health Justice. https://www.ama-assn.org/about/leadership/ama-s-strategic-plan-embed-racial-justice-and-advance-health-equity. Accessed May 11, 2021.

AMA. AMA publishes a plan to embed Racial Justice and promote health equity. https://www.ama-assn.org/press-center/press-releases/ama-releases-plan-dedicated-embedding-racial-justice-and-advancing. Accessed May 11, 2021.

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Race and medicine

Race and medicine

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