TMA Recognizes Racism as a Public Health Threat

The Texas Medical Association’s House of Delegates adopted new, specific TMA policy on racism at its business meeting on April 30 at TexMed 2022, following months of policy review resulting in a report by TMA’s new Task Force on Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI).

The House of Delegates voted to adopt the JEDI Task Force’s report at the recommendation of the Reference Committee on Science and Public Health. It also signed off on other public health-related measures on gender-affirming care, physician burnout, gun safety, and more.

The house’s adoption of the JEDI Task Force report, Addressing Racism in Medicine, was in turn adoption of new TMA policy that:

• Recognizes that racism is one of many social determinants of health and has a profound impact on the health of patients and the practice of medicine in Texas;
• Recognizes that both implicit and explicit biases exist in medicine and evidence-based strategies to address those biases are needed to improve physicians’ understanding and treatment of all patients;
• Acknowledges that racism in all forms is unacceptable and is a crisis that creates a serious and urgent threat to public health; and
• Commits to anti-discrimination, inclusion, and health equity as essential principles for policy development, physician education, and advocacy.

Also as a result of the report, the JEDI Task Force will collaborate with TMA’s Council on Medical Education in surveying Texas medical schools to identify current curriculum that addresses the history and impact of race in medicine, and its role in perpetuating health disparities.

The panel will also work to create “a Texas-physician-tailored resource webpage that addresses marginalized and at-risk population bias, cultural sensitivity training, treatment bias, and the promotion of evidence-based practices for combating health care disparities that emerge.”

During its review that sired the report, the task force found “it was clear that TMA had no existing policy on racism,” the report stated.

Task force co-chair Kevin H. McKinney, MD, said during house testimony that the group painstakingly worked to make sure the words in the report “have the appropriate gravity, but also make sure that they have the appropriate positivity to them. Because when we’re tackling racism, we want to make sure that we are looking forward together – not trying to look back, and not trying to divide.”

In other public health-related business, the House of Delegates also voted to:

• Investigate the issues surrounding “the right of transgender youth in Texas to participate in athletic teams that correspond to these transgender individuals’ gender identity and expression, and [oppose] any effort that would prohibit, restrict or otherwise impinge on this right.” The reference committee had said while it recognized “the tremendous benefits of sport and physical activity for all youth,” it recommended referral “in light of the need for more research on this evolving topic.”
• Study TMA policy regarding gender-affirming care for minors to provide clarification on terms and definitions as noted by testifiers.
• Update TMA policy to define burnout, recognize it as a pressing issue, and encourage use of healthy coping mechanisms to address it.
• Revise TMA policy to include suicidality when facilitating and advocating for continuing medical education for physicians regarding child and adolescent mental health.
• Recommend certain principles and characteristics as part of contact tracing apps, including that the apps be voluntary, free for users, and available in a patient’s language of choice. The policy states apps should also include patient privacy protections and require patient consent that can be revoked at any time.
• Study hemp-derived tetrahydrocannabinol product safety, laboratory testing, and accurate labeling of ingredients and safety warnings.
• Identify and promote evidence-based school prevention programs that increase education on gun safety.