DRIVE: Expanded Curriculum Appraisal Tool & Resources

Ask Yourself: Am I intentional in my inclusion of demographic characteristics (like race or ethnicity) for social context instead of as biological factors or physical findings?  Am I clear on how inclusion of relevant social variables supports my learning objectives?

Probing question:  Do my teaching examples encompass and normalize a range of patient characteristics similar to the mix in a diverse community like ours in Worcester?   

Example: Including demographic or social data only when medically relevant may lead to over-association.  

Ask Yourself: Do I include relative impact of cultural or socioeconomic determinants of health on case pathology?  

Probing question:  If I connect a demographic with a medical outcome, am I explaining the causal pathway? 

Examples: When presenting a case associating asthma rates with racial categories, do we explain the social and environmental factors contributing to this association?  A woman of color with high blood pressure may be suffering from chronic stress from structural racism. 

Top Resources

• Carter, Y. (2019). Trouble with Terminology: Confounding of The Terms “Sex” And “Gender” In the Anatomical Literature. The FASEB Journal, 33(S1), 438.433-438.433. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1096/ fasebj.2019.33.1_supplement.438.3
• Hayes-Bautista, D. (2018). Black and white: are racial categories too narrow? AAMC News and Insights online. https://www.aamc.org/news-insights/insights/black-and-white-are-racial-categories-too-narrow
• Tsai, J., Ucik, L., Baldwin, N., Hasslinger, C., & George, P. (2016). Race Matters? Examining and Rethinking Race Portrayal in Preclinical Medical Education. Academic medicine : journal of the Association of American Medical Colleges, 91(7), 916–920. https://doi.org/10.1097/ACM.0000000000001232

Policy Map - Data and mapping tool for accessing data about communities across the U.S. to make better-informed decisions

DRIVE Best Practice:  Ensure that cases lead the learner to question rather than reinforce bias and assumptions.