Michigan to require all medical professionals to undergo implicit bias training
Updated Jul 10, 2020; Posted Jul 09, 2020
Michigan medical professionals will need to undergo implicit bias training in order to be licensed by the state, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and state leaders announced Thursday.
The state Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs is in charge of licensing medical professionals. Under a new executive directive from Whitmer department will create new rules that make implicit bias training mandatory for people to qualify for licensure, renewal or registration. The new requirement is based on a recommendation from the Michigan Coronavirus Task Force on Racial Disparities, led by Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist II.
“The coronavirus pandemic has shown that this inequity is particularly and dangerously true,” said Gilchrist, who has lost 23 people in his life due to the virus.
Michigan Chief Medical Executive Dr. Joneigh Khaldun said 40% of the coronavirus deaths in Michigan have been Black people, which comprise 14% of the population....
...
Randolph F.R. Rasch,
dean of the College of Nursing at Michigan State University, said implicit bias was an unconscious classification of somebody based on a physical attribute.
Rasch said years ago
he personally was on a walk and crossed the street when the saw a younger Black man walking. He stopped to think about why he’d done that, even though
he himself was a Black man and had many positive experiences with Black men. What he realized was, “I had learned, unconsciously, to fear him. And at that point, I went back across the street,” Rasch said.
LARA Director
Orelene Hawks said the measure was not a silver bullet. However, “it has become clear that this is a significant step that we can take
to promote health equity and eliminate health disparities among Michigan’s communities of color,” she said.
She said the rulemaking process typically takes six months to one year to complete. Under the executive directive, LARA is required to consult with stakeholders on the matter by Nov. 1...
https://bit.ly/38IFZHh
Connect With Us