Mass. Medical Society, DPH, state’s medical schools issue set of principles addressing racism

Contact: Tom Flanagan, (781) 434-7101                                            tflanagan@mms.org

WALTHAM – The Massachusetts Medical Society (MMS), the statewide professional association of physicians and medical students with more than 25,000 members, and the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH) have teamed with the deans from the state’s four medical schools - Boston University School of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Tufts University School of Medicine, and the UMass Chan Medical School - to address racism in academic medicine and in health care organizations.

Buoyed by a shared goal of eliminating racism in medicine, the organizations worked to form a set of principles that will guide deliberate actions that will create an antiracist, diverse, inclusive, and equitable medical culture.

“In order to break down the structures of structural racism, we must learn, we must teach, we must lead. I am so proud of the Massachusetts health care community for coming together in this time of crisis,” said MMS immediate past President David A. Rosman, MD, MBA.

The principles include acknowledge and learn, lead and commit, disrupt and transform, and cultivate.

“This landmark statement recognizes that we must address structural racism to be able to combat health inequities,” said former Massachusetts Public Health Commissioner Monica Bharel, MD, MPH, who recently left the DPH on June 18, 2021. “With this set of principles, we are committing to create and sustain a culture across medicine in Massachusetts that is equitable as we seek to dismantle racism in all of its forms, starting with our medical students’ education for years to come.”

Last year, the MMS declared that racism is a public health crisis and constructed an organizational antiracism action plan in which the MMS committed to promoting equity and racial justice, supporting physicians who have been marginalized, and prioritizing antiracism in its strategic plan.

“It is mission critical for the Medical Society, the DPH, and our state’s medical schools to lead in supporting the next generation of physicians and their patients,” said MMS President Carole Allen, MD, MBA, FAAP. “This document outlines important steps to address systemic racism as it manifests in health care. The Massachusetts Medical Society is committed to health care as a basic human right; racism in all its forms interferes with that right and leads to unacceptable and disproportionately poorer outcomes and premature death for members of the Black and Brown communities.”

The Massachusetts Medical Society (MMS) is the statewide professional association for physicians and medical students, supporting 25,000 members. We are dedicated to educating and advocating for the physicians of Massachusetts and patients locally and nationally. A leadership voice in health care, the MMS contributes physician and patient perspectives to influence health-related legislation at the state and federal levels, works in support of public health, provides expert advice on physician practice management, and addresses issues of physician well-being. Under the auspices of the NEJM Group, the MMS extends our mission globally by advancing medical knowledge from research to patient care through the New England Journal of Medicine, NEJM Catalyst, and the NEJM Journal Watch family of specialty publications, and through our education products for health care professionals: NEJM Knowledge+, NEJM Resident 360, and our accredited and comprehensive continuing medical education programs.