Bias Checklist
This checklist is for KU School of Medicine faculty to learn how to review curriculum materials with respect to diversity, health equity and inclusion.
This bias checklist is a tool available for faculty members to review curriculum materials. You can use it when developing or reviewing content for medical or health professions students and trainees. It is intended to be self-explanatory and suitable for self-assessment. It does not require or replace other approaches to faculty development and continuing education, including the hard work of confronting our own biases.
By offering faculty access to this tool, we aim to avoid burdening learners with the responsibility to call attention to biased material, although it can and has been used by learners to provide feedback on content and educational experiences.
It is expressly not intended to be punitive toward educators, but instead, to promote self-reflection, faculty development and quality improvement in education, while also preventing the harm that comes when biased content reaches learners — harm that not only impacts our learners but also impacts their future patients.
In the 2021-2022 academic year, the School of Medicine Diversity Health Equity and Inclusion Committee and the Office of Faculty Affairs and Development team lead Bias Checklist workshops for Phase I faculty as part of a larger curriculum review and revision initiative. 82% of block faculty participated in Bias Checklist workshops and more than 200 curriculum activities were reviewed.
Currently, work is being done through the committee to support a curriculum evaluation in Phase II.
*Please note: We currently do not have any plans to conduct ongoing Bias Checklist workshops at this time.
The Upstate Bias Checklist is a free, publicly available tool that anyone can use when developing or reviewing content for learners at any level in the health professions. It is designed to avoid burdening learners with the responsibility to call attention to biased material, although it can and has been used by learners to provide feedback on content and educational experiences. It is expressly not intended to be punitive toward educators, but instead to promote self-reflection, faculty development and quality improvement in education, while also preventing the harm that comes when biased content reaches learners — harm that not only impacts our learners but also impacts their and our future patients.
Instructional videos available online are designed to help new users better understand and use the Bias Checklist Tool.
There is a team ready to help by requesting a Health Equity Curriculum Consult.
This consult is for the KU School of Medicine faculty to have access to content experts for their curricular questions. The goal is to support our School of Medicine faculty as they develop and deliver curricular content for learners. This is a collaborative effort between the School of Medicine Diversity Health Equity and Inclusion Committee and the Office of Faculty Affairs and Development.
Articles
- Caruso AB, Hobart TR, Botash AS, Germain LJ. Can a checklist ameliorate implicit bias in medical education? Medical Education. 2019;53(5):510. https://doi.org/10.1111/medu.13840
- Holm, A. L., Rowe Gorosh, M., Brady, M., & White-Perkins, D. (2017). Recognizing Privilege and Bias: An Interactive Exercise to Expand Health Care Providers' Personal Awareness. Academic medicine : journal of the Association of American Medical Colleges, 92(3), 360–364. https://doi.org/10.1097/ACM.0000000000001290
- Oluwabunmi O. Amal K. & Joni K. (2019). A systematic review of implicit bias in health care: a call for intersectionality. IMC Journal of Medical Science, 13(1), 005. https://doi.org/10.3329/imcjms.v13i1.42050
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Questions
For questions, please contact the School of Medicine Faculty Development Office.