Challenging Racism: Working and teaching with active racial awareness in clinical educational contexts
Why are these workshops important?
There is no question that in our medical school, as in all medical schools, students from BAME (Black Asian & Minority Ethnic) backgrounds achieve less well academically than their white counterparts. We see this time after time in students failing exams and not achieving honours. The Awarding Gap Working Group have been working hard to understand why this is- it is complex and results from many separate factors. I personally have been shocked to listen to some of the experiences of our BAME students.
At WMS we want to lead the way in tackling this “awarding gap”. As a first step we are training all of our staff and students in active racial awareness. This session has been developed for us specifically, so is relevant to the particular issues for medical students. It is for all staff, however you come into contact with students. Working together on this is the only way we are going to make an impact and provide a level playing field for all of our students.
Dr Kate Owen
Deputy Head MBChB
Director of Medical Studies
MB ChB Lead for Teaching and Learning
Who are these workshops for?
Challenging Racism workshops are aimed at any NHS or University staff who teach or interact with Warwick Medical School medical students. This includes medical, nursing and other allied professional clinicians and administration staff - if you meet our medical students face-to-face (or the online equivalent) in your NHS working/teaching capacity, then this workshop is for you.
You will learn about different types of racism and how to recognise them, and discuss ways of responding to racism. The workshops involve a taught component/presentation and a lot of time for discussion and questions.
These workshops have been running at Warwick Medical School since October 2020, when they were called Working and Teaching with Active racial Awareness. Challenging Racism workshops contain the same taught content as the original workshop, the difference is in the focus of the discussions on more clinical situations, and the inclusion of films to prompt discussions. Some Challenging Racism workshops may be focussed specifically for a particular staff group with specific scenarios to discuss.
Workshops need a minimum number of attendees to enable good discussions to take place. Workshops will be cancelled if there are 6 or fewer people registered.
Next available dates:
Tuesday 27th February 2024 - 10:00-12:00 IN PERSON WMS Gibbet Hill Campus GLT 4
Thursday 21st March 2024 - 14:00-16:00 IN PERSON WMS Gibbet Hill Campus MTC.004/006 - this session is full but we are running a waiting list for this date.
Friday 14th June 2024 - 10:00-12:00 IN PERSON WMS Gibbet Hill Campus GLT 4
2. Download and read the pre-course reading in the right hand column at the top of this page.
Download the pre-course reading
Student perspectives on barriers to performance for black and minority ethnic graduate-entry medical students: a qualitative study in a West Midlands medical schoolLink opens in a new window
Link oStudent perspectives on barriers to performance for black and minority ethnic graduate-entry medical students: a qualitative study in a West Midlands medical schoolLink opens in a new window