Eliminating Race-Based Medicine

In a powerful new call to action, the American Academy of Pediatrics is demanding critical self-evaluation and fundamental changes in the practice of medicine to end long-standing inequities in health care.

In a new policy statement, “Eliminating Race-Based Medicine,” the AAP observes that race is a historically derived social construct that has no place as a biological proxy. Over the years, the medical field has inaccurately applied race correction or race adjustment factors in its work, resulting in differential approaches to disease management and disparate clinical outcomes.

Dr. Tiffani J. Johnson, MD, MSc, FAAP is a board-certified pediatric emergency medicine physician at UC Davis, Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine, and a scholar on race, racism, and its impact on child health. Her research portfolio reflects her commitment to improving the quality of care for underserved children. She is currently exploring the root causes of inequities in the healthcare and early childhood education settings, including research on bias and discrimination and their impact on the health and well-being of children.

She is also the co-author of the AAP policy statement and joins Melanie in this encore episode from June 2022 to break down what it means, what critical changes need to be made, and what providers can do.