Stopping Discrimination Before It Starts: The Impact of Civil Rights Laws on Healthcare Disparities – A Medical School Curriculum

Date of Review: April, 2020

This resource introduces medical students to Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the law that prohibits recipients of federal funds, including hospitals that participate in the Medicare program, from discriminating on the basis of race, color, or national origin. The content is presented through a PowerPoint presentation that includes cases for discussion and reflection exercises, and includes a detailed “facilitator’s guide” to support the presenter. One concern is that the material is older (>10 years) and may minimize the role of unconscious biases if not presented carefully, as it focuses on explicit bias and discrimination. —Amy Caruso Brown, MD, NCEAS