The historical and contemporary root causes of health inequities are examined and strategies to remove them are amplified in the AMA’s National Health Equity Grand Rounds Learning Series.
Events in this Grand Rounds panel series have covered topics such as the lingering impact of past racist policies and collecting meaningful data that can identify health inequities and then assist in creating interventions to eliminate them. The National Health Equity Grand Rounds events also have focused on identifying opportunities for individuals and institutions to advance health equity.
The recorded events have been developed into educational modules that 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 automated credit tracking, and reporting for some states and specialty boards.
Learn about AMA CME accreditation.
Physicians can watch the modules or read the transcripts at their convenience and earn CME credit for doing so. Each module has been designated for a maximum of 1.50 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™.
The National Health Equity Grand Rounds were developed by the AMA, the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education and the National Center for Interprofessional Practice and Education, and Disability Belongs (formerly RespectAbility)—a nonprofit organization that works to advance policies and practices that empower people with disabilities.
“Rewrite the Script: Narrative Transformation for Equity in Health”
- In this hybrid event, recorded live at Facing Race: A National Convening in St. Louis, Missouri, experts from diverse backgrounds including physicians, writers, artists, and digital media experts shared their insights on how to challenge harmful narratives and reshape how we think about health. One stated goal was to “illuminate the ways that narrative strategy can advance health, and particularly how cultural strategies may contribute to transformation in public health and health care.”
- Continuing Education (CE) credit is also available for this module.
“Advancing Health Equity Through Resistance: A State of the Union on Threats and Opportunities”
- In this hybrid event, panelists—including scholars, activists, physicians and community organizers—engaged with a live audience at the New York Public Library’s Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem. It was also livestreamed to a national audience via the National Health Equity Grand Rounds website.
- In the discussion, speakers examined reasons why some health equity initiatives are effective and others are counterproductive—or merely performative. Opportunities to advance health equity in medicine through individual, institutional, and structural solutions were also discussed.
- CE credit is also available for this module.
“Creating Accountability Through Data: From Racism and Neglect to Transparency and Repair”
- This event explored how collecting data on race can affect health care systems and institutions, shapes priorities and determines how resources get to the communities they serve. While there was discussion about the potential of data to bring to light injustice in the health care system, there was also acknowledgement that “problem-focused” data collection has been more valued than “solution-focused” research and that data has also been used to perpetuate harm and justify the status quo.
“Breaking Down the Ivory Tower: Building the Health Care Workforce America Needs”
- This event looked at academic elitism in health education and sought to reimagine an educational system that supports all students and trainees as they learn to care for a diverse patient population. Speakers elevated strategies for addressing long-standing underrepresentation of historically excluded populations in health professional training programs.
“Follow the Money! Understanding the Structural Incentives for Inequity in Health Care and Beyond”
This event featured discussion about how profit in health care encourages inequity by perpetuating and exacerbating segregated systems of care that serve to maintain class inequality. Also highlighted were strategies for disrupting existing systems to catalyze change and processes for undoing structural incentives for inequity.
“The History of Racism in US Health Care: Root Causes of Today's Hierarchy and Systems of Power”
- In the inaugural event of the series, speakers explored the history of structural inequities in health care, unethical medical experimentation, and how these past practices have fueled current structural inequities in health care. Opportunities to advance equity in medicine through individual, institutional and structural solutions were identified.
The AMA Center for Health Equity focuses on facilitating, strengthening and amplifying AMA’s work to eliminate health inequities. Education from the AMA Center for Health Equity features content specifically developed or curated by the AMA Center for Health Equity to help physicians, health providers and health systems address root causes of inequities such as racism, white supremacy, and other structural determinants of health.
Explore further with the AMA’s 2024—2025 strategic plan to advance health equity.
Stay updated on the fight for greater health equity.
