MEDoRA – Working group on medicine without racism
Hey! We are students, teachers, researchers, clinicians, interested parties, and people involved in civil society who are concerned with the topics of racism, medicine, and health.?
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We want to understand how racism works in medicine and how we can recognize and overcome racism.?
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GOALS OF THE WORKING GROUP
- Understanding the effects of racism in medicine and on health?
- Developing possible courses of action?
- Reflecting on one's own "racist blinders," socialization, and stereotypes?
- Creating an open and safe space for discussion?
- and also acting as an interface for networking among teachers, students, clinical practitioners, various departments, faculties, and civil society
BACKGROUND
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"Sometimes you want to complain, but you don't want to use the word
racism [...] you still carry
the burden of having been discriminated against, but you try to put it nicely
because you are still a patient."?
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Interview excerpt (Ahmad) from the NaDiRa study (2023) Racism and its symptoms, p. 176?
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Racist discrimination makes it difficult or even impossible for people to access adequate healthcare—due to linguistic and cultural barriers as well as economic and legal ones. The medical care provided to people affected by racism is also often of poorer quality.?
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Racist prejudices on the part of doctors, nurses, or midwives are one of the possible causes. However, discrimination also occurs without any malicious intent on the part of those involved. The structures of the healthcare system itself contribute to people experiencing racialisation and?racist discrimination and receive poorer care. There are many reasons for this: because appointments, information material, and consultation hours are not adequately translated; because medical studies and further training hardly cover specific clinical pictures in non-white people; or because discriminated groups are also severely underrepresented in medical studies.?
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Finally, there is also good evidence that racial discrimination itself is a psychosocial stress factor that has a negative impact on the health of those affected.?
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To achieve our goals, we are currently working in four subgroups to organize public events, internal and external training courses, and we are exploring opportunities for anti-racist teaching.?
EVENTS
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We meet once a month to exchange ideas and discuss issues, and we look forward to seeing you there.?
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The following dates are scheduled until the end of 2026:?
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- Monday, February 9, 2026, from 12:30 p.m. to 2:00 p.m.?
- Monday, March 9, 2026, from 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.?
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On Zoom and in person; the rooms will be announced shortly via email, and a Zoom link will be sent upon request.?
Anyone interested in the topic of racism and health is cordially invited to attend the meetings.?
CONTACT
- Phone: +49 (0) 821 598-72096