Most of the physicians practicing medicine in the U.S. today were trained when the term “health equity”—the goal of achieving optimal health for all—hadn’t yet entered the health care agenda, let alone the medical school curriculum. The AMA now provides a convenient way for physicians to make this essential subject part of their continuing medical education.
The AMA’s new CME series aimed at addressing racism, structural determinants of health and other root causes of health inequity is featured on the AMA Ed Hub™ Health Equity Education Center and it is part of the education from the AMA Center for Health Equity. The materials are designed to equip physicians and other learners with core health equity concepts needed to support them as they continue to take action and confront health injustice and are curated by the AMA Center for Health Equity.
“The AMA is committed to dismantling health inequities, improving health outcomes, and closing gaps in health care,” said AMA President Gerald E. Harmon, MD. “This new educational content is extremely beneficial to anyone interested in expanding their knowledge around health equity.”
The educational effort is an outgrowth of the AMA’s strategic plan to embed racial justice and advance health equity.
Materials include a module on the Basics of Health Equity, which grounds readers in common definitions, concepts, and frameworks. The module serves as an introduction to the subject of health equity and explains how the language used evolves over time.
Other available modules include episodes of the AMA’s “Prioritizing Equity” CME video series that highlight how COVID-19 and other determinants of health uniquely affect marginalized communities.
“We all have a role in disrupting and dismantling systems that produce harm and finding ways to rebuild them to ensure justice, compassion, and equitable care for all patients,” said AMA Chief Health Equity Officer Aletha Maybank, MD, MPH, who is featured in many of the “Prioritizing Equity” modules.
Below are a few of the “Prioritizing Equity” education modules available. Physicians can claim CME after watching each episode and successfully answering quiz questions.
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“Prioritizing Equity: COVID-19 & Employer Vaccine Equity”
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Employers can help ensure the equitable administration of COVID-19 vaccinations by making it as easy as possible for their employees to get one, giving workers paid time off to get vaccinated or recover from side effects, and hosting onsite vaccination. These and other ways employers can help were discussed in this module.
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“Prioritizing Equity: Advancing Equity through Quality and Safety During COVID-19”
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The ways health care quality- and patient safety-improvement tools and methods can be employed to promote health equity and why inequity should be treated as an unwanted variation in care are explained in this module.
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“Prioritizing Equity: COVID-19 & Minoritized Physicians”
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Ways in which the COVID-19 pandemic has uniquely affected minoritized and marginalized physicians, communities and patients that historically and contemporarily experience inequities are discussed in this module.
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“Prioritizing Equity: Celebrating and Reflecting during PRIDE Month”
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This discussion focuses on what physicians can do to best support and center the voices of LGBTQ+ patients while continuing to advance health equity. It also recognizes the continued efforts of LGBTQ+ communities in their fight for equity and inclusion.
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“Prioritizing Equity: Getting to Justice in Education”
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This episode discusses the importance of embedding equity in medical education and envisioning new paths to justice.
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“Prioritizing Equity: Building Alliance & Sharing Power to Achieve Health Equity”
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This module looks at why advancing health equity requires sharing power through effective partnerships and the importance of building alliances with those who have experienced marginalization, exploitation, expropriation and injustice across generations.
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Also available is an introductory module on the historical foundations of racism in medicine. Other modules cover topics such as research and data for health equity, mental health and COVID-19, and the root causes of health inequities.
These modules are part of the AMA Ed Hub, an online learning platform that brings together high-quality CME, maintenance of certification, and educational content from trusted sources, all in one place—with activities relevant to you, automated credit tracking and reporting for some states and specialty boards.
Learn more about AMA CME accreditation.
