Implicit Bias

Course overview

Implicit bias in healthcare has been described as a fragmented area of research and there is an evolving area of medical and educational approaches to train physicians and nurses on how to recognize, reflect and change implicit bias to avoid harm to patients. In the United States and worldwide, there is a growing awareness of bias in healthcare and of improved approaches to manage it with specific individuals and with whole populations. By increasing awareness of implicit bias in a safe and supportive learning environment, health clinicians can learn and practice making conscious efforts to change by developing new approaches to understanding diversity in the patient population, avoiding patterns of preferential treatment and disregard of a patient based on race, ethnicity, gender identity, age, disability, sexual orientation or other characteristics. Available tools, such as the Implicit Association Test (IAT) helps health clinicians to recognize implicit bias and to begin the task of change.