Material Detail

This workshop is designed to last approximately 1.5 hours and will assist faculty in facilitating discussions on race, gender, sexual orientation and socioeconomic diversity. Upon viewing four different scenes from the Academy Award-winning movie Crash, participants will engage in active discussion sessions in which they reflect on their impressions of the actors, situations and themes of each scene. Participants will be asked to discuss the contentious and emotional issues that had created the situation in each scene as the basis for exploration of their own personal and professional experiences and identities.

Training medical students to address health care disparities based on race, gender, sexual orientation, and socioeconomic class involves, not only education on epidemiologic and clinical evidence for the existence of such disparities, but also the fostering of critical awareness of the impact of assumptions, biases, and prejudice on physician-patient interactions. Development of critical awareness may be achieved through engaged small group discussions in a safe environment and requires instructors who are skilled at facilitating discussions on potentially contentious issues, such as race, gender, sexual orientation, and socioeconomic class. In preparation for teaching in these areas, it is essential that the instructors themselves reflect on their own biases, values, and perspectives and model the types of discussions they will facilitate.