DARE Training: Teaching Educators How to Revise Internal Medicine Residency Lectures by Using an Anti-racism Framework.

Introduction: Systemic inequities and provider-held biases reinforce racism and further disparities in graduate medical education. We developed the Department of Medicine Anti-Racism and Equity Educational Initiative (DARE) to improve internal medicine residency conferences. We trained faculty and residents to serve as coaches to support other faculty in delivering lectures. The training leveraged a best-practices checklist to revise existing lectures. Methods: We recruited internal medicine faculty and residents to serve as DARE coaches, who supported educators in improving lectures' anti-racism content. During the training, coaches watched a videotaped didactic presentation that we created about health equity and anti-racism frameworks. DARE coaches then participated in a workshop where they engaged in case-based learning and small-group discussion to apply the DARE best-practices checklist to sample lecture slides. To assess training effectiveness, coaches completed pre- and posttraining assessments in which they edited different sample lecture slides. Our training took 1 hour to complete. Results: Thirty-four individuals completed DARE training. Following the training, the sample slides were significantly improved with respect to diversity of graphics (p < .001), discussion of research participant demographics (p < .001), and discussion of the impact of racism/bias on health disparities (p = .03). After DARE training, 23 of 24 participants (96%) endorsed feeling more prepared to bring an anti-racist framework to lectures and to support colleagues in doing the same. Discussion: Training residents and faculty to use DARE principles in delivering internal medicine lectures is an innovative and effective way to integrate anti-racism into internal medicine residency conferences.

An Anti-Racism and Equity Initiative Improves Residency Educational Conferences.

Background: Graduate medical education curricula may reinforce systemic inequities and bias, thus contributing to health disparities. Curricular interventions and evaluation measures are needed to increase trainee awareness of bias and known inequities in health care. Objective: This study sought to improve the content of core noontime internal medicine residency educational conferences by implementing the Department of Medicine Anti-Racism and Equity (DARE) educational initiative. Methods: DARE best practices were developed from available anti-racism and equity educational materials. Volunteer trainees and faculty in the department of medicine of a large urban academic medical center were recruited and underwent an hourlong training to utilize DARE best practices to coach faculty on improving the anti-racist and equity content of educational conferences. DARE coaches then met with faculty to review the planned 2021-2022 academic year (AY) lectures and facilitate alignment with DARE best practices. A rubric was created from DARE practices and utilized to compare pre-intervention (AY21) and post-intervention (AY22) conferences. Results: Using the DARE best practices while coaching increased the anti-racism and equity content from AY21 to AY22 (total rubric score mean [SD] 0.16 [1.19] to 1.38 [1.39]; P=.001; possible scores -4 to +5), with 75% (21 of 28) of AY22 conferences showing improvement. This included increased diversity of photographs, discussion of the racial or ethnic makeup of research study participants, appropriate use of race in case vignettes, and discussion of the impact of racism or bias on health disparities. Conclusions: Training coaches to implement DARE best practices improved the anti-racism and equity content of existing noontime internal medicine residency educational conferences.

Genetic and clinical factors underlying a self-reported family history of heart disease.

AIMS: To estimate how much information conveyed by self-reported family history of heart disease (FHHD) is already explained by clinical and genetic risk factors. METHODS AND RESULTS: Cross-sectional analysis of UK Biobank participants without pre-existing coronary artery disease using a multivariable model with self-reported FHHD as the outcome. Clinical (diabetes, hypertension, smoking, apolipoprotein B-to-apolipoprotein AI ratio, waist-to-hip ratio, high sensitivity C-reactive protein, lipoprotein(a), triglycerides) and genetic risk factors (polygenic risk score for coronary artery disease [PRSCAD], heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia [HeFH]) were exposures. Models were adjusted for age, sex, and cholesterol-lowering medication use. Multiple logistic regression models were fitted to associate FHHD with risk factors, with continuous variables treated as quintiles. Population attributable risks (PAR) were subsequently calculated from the resultant odds ratios. Among 166 714 individuals, 72 052 (43.2%) participants reported an FHHD. In a multivariable model, genetic risk factors PRSCAD (OR 1.30, CI 1.27-1.33) and HeFH (OR 1.31, 1.11-1.54) were most strongly associated with FHHD. Clinical risk factors followed: hypertension (OR 1.18, CI 1.15-1.21), lipoprotein(a) (OR 1.17, CI 1.14-1.20), apolipoprotein B-to-apolipoprotein AI ratio (OR 1.13, 95% CI 1.10-1.16), and triglycerides (OR 1.07, CI 1.04-1.10). For the PAR analyses: 21.9% (CI 18.19-25.63) of the risk of reporting an FHHD is attributed to clinical factors, 22.2% (CI% 20.44-23.88) is attributed to genetic factors, and 36.0% (CI 33.31-38.68) is attributed to genetic and clinical factors combined. CONCLUSIONS: A combined model of clinical and genetic risk factors explains only 36% of the likelihood of FHHD, implying additional value in the family history.

With advances in genetics, it is tempting to assume that the 'family history' of a patient is an imperfect proxy for information we can already glean from genetics and laboratory tests. However, this study shows that much of the information contained in the self-reported family history of heart disease is not captured by currently available genetic and clinical biomarkers and highlights an important knowledge gap. Clinically used biomarkers explained only 21.9% of the likelihood of a patient reporting a family history of heart disease, while genetics explained 22.2%, and a combined model explained 36% of this likelihoodThe majority of the risk of reporting a family history went unexplained, implying that family history still has major relevance in clinical practice.

Reproductive Justice: A Case-Based, Interactive Curriculum.

Introduction: Reproductive injustices such as forced sterilization, preventable maternal morbidity and mortality, restricted access to family planning services, and policy-driven environmental violence undermine reproductive autonomy and health outcomes, with disproportionate impact on historically marginalized communities. However, curricula focused on reproductive justice (RJ) are lacking in medical education. Methods: We designed a novel, interactive, case-based RJ curriculum for postclerkship medical students. This curriculum was created using published guidelines on best practices for incorporating RJ in medical education. The session included a prerecorded video on the history of RJ, an article, and four interactive cases. Students engaged in a 2-hour small-group session, discussing key learning points of each case. We evaluated the curriculum's impact with a pre- and postsurvey and focus group. Results: Sixty-eight students participated in this RJ curriculum in October 2020 and March 2021. Forty-one percent of them completed the presurvey, and 46% completed the postsurvey. Twenty-two percent completed both surveys. Ninety percent of respondents agreed that RJ was relevant to their future practice, and 87% agreed that participating in this session would impact their clinical practice. Most respondents (81%) agreed that more RJ content is needed. Focus group participants appreciated the case-based, interactive format and the intersectionality within the cases. Discussion: This interactive curriculum is an innovative and effective way to teach medical students about RJ and its relevance to clinical practice. Walking alongside patients as they accessed reproductive health care in a case-based curriculum improved students' comfort and self-reported knowledge on several RJ topics.

Interventions to Mitigate Risk of Cardiovascular Disease After Adverse Pregnancy Outcomes: A Review.

IMPORTANCE: A growing body of evidence suggests that adverse pregnancy outcomes (APOs), including hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, gestational diabetes (GD), preterm birth, and intrauterine growth restriction, are associated with increased risk of cardiometabolic disease and cardiovascular disease (CVD) later in life. Adverse pregnancy outcomes may therefore represent an opportunity to intervene to prevent or delay onset of CVD. The objective of this review was to summarize the current evidence for targeted postpartum interventions and strategies to reduce CVD risk in women with a history of APOs. OBSERVATIONS: A search of PubMed and Ovid for English-language randomized clinical trials, cohort studies, descriptive studies, and guidelines published from January 1, 2000, to April 30, 2021, was performed. Four broad categories of interventions were identified: transitional clinics, lifestyle interventions, pharmacotherapy, and patient and clinician education. Observational studies suggest that postpartum transitional clinics identify women who are at elevated risk for CVD and may aid in the transition to longitudinal primary care. Lifestyle interventions to increase physical activity and improve diet quality may help reduce the incidence of type 2 diabetes in women with prior GD; less is known about women with other prior APOs. Metformin hydrochloride may prevent development of type 2 diabetes in women with prior GD. Evidence is lacking in regard to specific pharmacotherapies after other APOs. Cardiovascular guidelines endorse using a history of APOs to refine CVD risk assessment and guide statin prescription for primary prevention in women with intermediate calculated 10-year CVD risk. Research suggests a low level of awareness of the link between APOs and CVD among both patients and clinicians. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: These findings suggest that transitional clinics, lifestyle intervention, targeted pharmacotherapy, and clinician and patient education represent promising strategies for improving postpartum maternal cardiometabolic health in women with APOs; further research is needed to develop and rigorously evaluate these interventions. Future efforts should focus on strategies to increase maternal postpartum follow-up, improve accessibility to interventions across diverse racial and cultural groups, expand awareness of sex-specific CVD risk factors, and define evidence-based precision prevention strategies for this high-risk population.