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  4. Take 5 - Race as a Social Construct in Medical Practice

Take 5 - Race as a Social Construct in Medical Practice

In this thought-provoking video, KFF Vice President Samantha Artiga dives into racial disparities in healthcare, exploring how the healthcare system has historically perpetuated inequities through biases, clinical guidelines, and medical education — and the promising efforts underway to reform the use of race in clinical care.

In Focus with KFF: Rethinking the Use of Race in Medicine

Kaiser Family Foundation. (2022). In Focus with KFF: Rethinking the Use of Race in Medicine [Video]. YouTube. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/TXYOM6tmEWA

In this article, Taking race out of human genetics: Engaging a century-long debate about the role of race in science, published in Science, Michael Yudell, Dorothy Roberts, Rob DeSalle, and Sarah Tishkoff tackle the complex issue of race in genetic research. Despite calls to move away from using race as a variable in genetic studies after the human genome was sequenced, its usage has paradoxically increased. The authors argue that the use of race as a biological category is problematic and potentially harmful.

Yudell, M., Roberts, D., DeSalle, R., & Tishkoff, S. (2016). Taking race out of human genetics. Science, 351(6273), 564-565. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aac4951