285.986 Racism and Intersectionality in Medicine
MSSNY affirms that racism is a public health crisis.
MSSNY will evaluate its mission statement to be clear that it supports equity in all aspects of its work.
MSSNY will systematically evaluate its policies and procedures to be clear that it supports equity in all aspects of its work, in both existing and in future policies and procedures, and that record of this process be visible to all members.
MSSNY encourages all county societies to affirm that racism is a public health crisis.
MSSNY will work with all county medical societies to ensure that their mission statements are inclusive of the needs of underrepresented minority patients and physicians.
MSSNY encourages all county societies to systematically evaluate their policies and procedures to be clear that they support equity in all aspects of their work, in both existing and in future policies and procedures, and that records of this process be visible to all members.
MSSNY will work collaboratively with all county medical societies to develop a strategic plan to improve recruitment, retention, support, and mentoring of members who are Black and Latinx, people of color (POC), indigenous people, Asian American and Pacific Islanders (AAPI), people with disabilities and/or sexual and gender minorities.
MSSNY will work with medical schools in New York to ensure that underrepresented minority students are successfully recruited and supported to reinforce the pipeline of physicians and physician leaders to be representative of the population we serve.
MSSNY will seek that all medical schools in New York will utilize appropriate culturally relevant curricula that does not propagate race-based medicine, understanding that race is a social construct and not a biological one.
MSSNY, through its Committee on Health Equity will seek to:
- increase awareness of how discrimination based on factors such as racism, classism, cisgenderism, heterosexism, ableism, patriarchy, and xenophobia contributes to both societal and health inequities and to ensure that all New Yorkers receive the best care possible and can achieve the best health possible;
- work with the AMA, specialty societies, Albany leadership, community groups, and other stakeholders to eliminate inequities, particularly those inequities that adversely impact the health and well-being and access to and quality of care for persons who are from historically disadvantaged populations;
- Prevent and manage diseases that are prevalent in historically disinvested populations burdened with the worse disease outcomes, including diabetes, hypertension, and cancer, through educational programming for physicians and other stakeholders;
- Reverse the troubling increases in race/ethnic-based health inequities such as maternal mortality; and
- Promote expanded funding for programs that attract a more diversified physician workforce, increasing the number of minority faculty including Black, Latinx, Native American, female, LGBTQ faculty, and faculty with disabilities teaching in medical schools and expanding medical school pipeline programs in rural and urban areas to address the shortage of physicians in medically underserved areas of New York
MSSNY will request that all New York medical specialty organizations, medical schools, non-physician healthcare organizations and hospitals adopt similar resolutions.
MSSNY stands firmly against harassment and violence against any group based on their identity, such as the recent attacks on the Asian community. (Adopted, Council 6/3/21)
