Section 3: Inclusive Teaching

 

What is inclusion in education? 

“An inclusive approach to education means that each individual’s needs are taken into account and that all learners participate and achieve together.”
-UNESCO

“Inclusive teaching involves deliberately cultivating a learning environment where all students are treated equitably, have equal access to learning, and feel valued and supported in their learning. Such teaching attends to social identities and seeks to change the ways systemic inequities shape dynamics in teaching-learning spaces, affect individuals’ experiences of those spaces, and influence course and curriculum design.” 
-University of Michigan

Why is it important to teach our students about inclusion?  

It is our duty as healthcare professionals to care for anyone who is under our care in an equitable and inclusive manner.  This means tailoring the exam and management plan to the patient’s individual needs, whether they have a language barrier, a disability, socieoconomic barriers, challenges at home, transportation issues, and other social determinants of health. 

Inclusive Teaching

Setting the stage for preceptor-student relationship (understanding culture, bias, etc)

  • Ask yourself these questions about the clinical learning environment you create as a preceptor (adapted from NYU’s Inclusive Curriculum Toolkit):
    • Are the learning experiences accessible for all students? (Case review, case presentation, small group discussions, mini workshops, semester projects, etc)
    • Do clinic policies take into account the different challenges students may encounter? (food insecurity, transportation issues, family issues, mental health issues, etc)
    • Does my teaching (case review, journal club, etc) provide diverse perspectives, including those that are often marginalized?
    • Are the assessments and feedback sessions I use designed for improvement of the student and myself as a preceptor/doctor?
    • Do students have the opportunity to demonstrate learning in more than one way?

Inclusive Teaching Strategies in the Classroom, and adaptable to Clinical setting: 

  •  

Cultural Sensitivity/Humility and Implicit Bias

Understanding how to provide culturally-inclusive and culturally-safe care for patients is important for optimizing care, reducing barriers to good healthcare outcomes, enhancing care collaboration and coordination, and reducing healthcare costs.  

Some examples of teaching inclusive care to our students are below: 

  • Teaching how to communicate through interpreters to Non-English speaking patients: https://www.healthaffairs.org/do/10.1377/forefront.20210726.579549/full/
  • Any attempt at connecting to your patient can elicit better information from the beginning and will lead to greater outcomes. Most patients will try to meet you in the middle with the little bit you may try. The patients will greatly appreciate you but the students will also see this as another level of compassion to have and to strive for.
  • Practice active listening and reflect back to the patient their desires for outcomes for the exam. 
  • Take into account individual patient needs and social determinants of health that would affect their healthcare outcomes and medication regimen (cost, schedule, remembering to take the medication, family members for support, etc)

5 minute video on implicit bias for preceptors: Implicit Bias in Health Professions
What Is Bias, and What Can Medical Professionals Do to Address It?

 

Additional Resources:

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