A collective of 14 Black, Latinx and Asian American physicians training in adolescent medicine, including our own Adolescent Medicine Fellow Nathalie Duroseau, DO, have released a statement on Promoting Equity and Inclusion in Adolescent Medicine that is now live on the Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine (SAHM) website.
“As a national conversation about race resurfaces once again, we believe that the work begins at home,” the statement reads. “We must acknowledge that the U.S. health care system has perpetuated racism for centuries, and it is the responsibility of academic societies and institutions to address it.”
The statement advocates for the creation of an anti-racist medical system, and recommends that SAHM members take six specific actions at their own institutions. These include promoting research that discusses ways to dismantle systemic racism, working to create and support “pathways for the recruitment, retention and promotion of Black and Brown adolescent medicine faculty members,” and advocating for the development of ways to anonymously report acts of racism and bias. The collective also specifies four actions that they advocate and support SAHM in taking.
We applaud Dr. Duroseau and all the authors of the statement for their leadership on these critical issues. The Mount Sinai Adolescent Health Center stands for racial justice and against racism in all forms, and remains committed to working toward health equity for all.
