Training Health Professionals to Combat Racism: A Scoping Review on the Use of Simulation
Background: Racism against Black people is a historical and social challenge for achieving effective and equitable healthcare. Systematic reviews highlight various teaching strategies aimed at combating racism and recommend actions that develop both clinical competencies and advocacy skills. In alignment with this, researchers and interprofessional education institutions recognize the importance of addressing racism, which includes discussing hierarchies and power imbalances. In this context, simulation-based education presents a promising opportunity. This study aimed to identify evidence on the effectiveness of simulation as a teaching strategy to combat racism.
Method: A scoping review was conducted in 2024, including searches in seven databases, MedEdPortal, and manual searches in a specific journal on health simulation. There are no filters for year or language. We reviewed and extracted: study characteristics, participant demographics, intervention details, results and key findings, and whether TAI or a similar tool was used. A narrative synthesis of the findings was conducted.
Results: our initial search identified 140 articles, after screening and selection, sixteen articles were included: 2 reviews, 11 experiential studies, and 3 theoretical articles. All analyzed articles were published in English by researchers from the Global North. Only one described an interprofessional experience, nine involved exclusively medical students, three focused on nursing, and one on psychology.
Conclusions: The synthesis of the results provides insights that support the implementation of new antiracist simulation-based educational experiences in the training of healthcare professionals, particularly in an interprofessional format.
Reflections/Lessons Learned/Implications: While there are studies addressing teaching strategies primarily focused on interpersonal racism, there is a clear lack of publications that approach the complexity of this topic in a way that promotes education based on the integration of different professions. This highlights the need for more comprehensive approaches that include interprofessional collaboration to effectively navigate and combat racism in healthcare education.In our journey as a student and professor, we have seen the profound impact that interprofessional collaboration can have on patient outcomes and the overall learning experience. Our results reinforce the need for the implementation and evaluation of educational frameworks that not only address racism from multiple angles but also integrate diverse professional perspectives.