New Mexico University med school to offer workshops on 'health equity' and anti-racist teaching
The University of New Mexico School of Medicine is set to offer two workshops on inclusive teaching and anti-racist teaching in the Fall 2023 semester.
Participants will be able to 'demonstrate how to survey their educational materials for content that perpetuates bias and racism' upon completion of the workshop.
The University of New Mexico School of Medicine is set to offer two workshops on inclusive teaching and anti-racist teaching in the Fall 2023 semester.
One of these workshops, entitled ”Teaching that Promotes Antiracism for Health Equity: It’s Easier than You May Think,” promises to delve into the impact of the erroneous biological construct of race on curriculum content and student learning outcomes. The session will also encourage faculty engagement with a “tool for self-evaluating their educational materials for biases, errors, and missed opportunities.”
The in-person workshop, which will take place on September 23, will emphasize showing teachers how to spot racial bias in their own material and replace it with an anti-racist lens.
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Reading from the description page for the workshop, participants will be able to “[d]emonstrate how to survey their educational materials for content that perpetuates bias and racism” upon completion of the workshop.
They will also learn “how to modify their educational materials to counter bias and racism (to provide an antiracism perspective on their teaching).”
The course facilitators will be Gary Smith, an associate dean at the school who has a specialty in teacher education, and Mariam Salas, an infectious diseases fellowship assistant professor.
Salas’ biography on the School of Medicine website says she hopes to help New Mexico University develop a nationally-acclaimed infectious disease fellowship “with a focus on healthcare equity, diversity and reducing healthcare disparities.”
Later in the semester, the school will offer another workshop on inclusive learning titled “Advancing Inclusive Teaching and Learning.” The workshop will be critical of the traditional higher education method.
“Long-standing approaches in traditional higher education negatively impact the educational success of many learners at institutions that serve a diverse student body,” the description says, noting that there is a “mismatch between traditional education and learners from increasingly diverse backgrounds and strives to serve the educational needs of all students.”
Smith will be a facilitator for this workshop in addition to the antiracist seminar, along with Rose Vallejo, an assistant professor in the division of physical therapy at the school.
Campus Reform contacted all parties mentioned for comment. This story will be updated accordingly.
