From the pages of Medicine at Michigan magazine: If anti-racism is a verb, how is Michigan Medicine doing it?

In the spring, Michigan Medicine faculty, staff, and learners responded to nationwide protests against social injustice with a passionate call to recognize racism as a public health issue and stand out as leaders for health equity. What does this kind of call sound like? What is happening at the health system and Medical School to understand and eliminate health disparities and ensure that we have a future rooted in anti-racism and equity?

This is the first in a series of stories that will address those questions. In this story, you’ll read about faculty, staff, and students who are doing the work to make real and lasting change throughout Michigan Medicine. Many have seen discrimination up close and have witnessed the devastating health effects of living in under-resourced communities. They want to invest their time and energy in programs that will have sustainable impact.

So what will work?

In the spring, Michigan Medicine leadership listened to ideas from more than a thousand people across the academic medical center and found this to be extremely important and impactful in understanding short-term and long-term changes they can make.

What they heard over and over again is that representation matters. That we need more faculty and students of color. That anti-racist recruitment practices, pipeline programs, and mentorship are vital in cultivating physicians and other health care professionals of color to serve a diverse patient population. Here we talk with some of those people about what has worked for them and what they’re hoping to do for the anti-racist future of medicine.