ABSTRACT
Racism is a pervasive and systemic issue that has profound adverse effects on health.1,2 Racism is associated with poorer mental and physical health outcomes and negative patient experiences in the health care system.3,4 As evidenced by the current coronavirus pandemic, race is a sociopolitical construct that continues to disadvantage Black, Latinx, Indigenous, and other People of Color.5–8 The association between racism and adverse health outcomes has been discussed for decades in the medical literature, including the family medicine literature. [...]in 2016, Dr. J. Nwando Olayiwola, chair of the Department of Family Medicine at Ohio State University, wrote an essay on her experiences taking care of patients as a Black family physician.10 In January 2019, Family Medicine published an entire issue devoted to racism in education and training.11 Dr. Eduardo Medina, a family physician and public health scholar, coauthored a call to action in 2016 for health professionals to dismantle structural racism and support Black lives to achieve health equity. A critical step is to have the expertise of a medical editor for diversity, equity, and inclusion, and we welcome this input from Renee Crichlow, MD, Boston University Department of Family Medicine's vice chair of health equity.