On Tuesday June 9th, the President of SCCM released a statement affirming the society’s commitment to diversity and inclusion in the wake of the nation’s recent focus on systemic racism. This commitment over the past few years has been evident as select society members from various under-represented professional and demographic backgrounds have served in positions of prominence. While this is commendable, the tide of historic change taking place within our country calls for a deeper commitment to addressing the root causes of ethnic  inequality in healthcare. As critical care professionals, we are first-hand witnesses to a national tragedy in which underlying health care disparities are causing Black people to bear the morbidity and mortality burden from COVID-19 (1). Despite having complex and problematic encounters with the healthcare industrial complex, Black patients find it difficult to receive care from physicians with whom they share a cultural bond (2).

While SCCM cannot address all of these structural issues within healthcare, we can create a culturally sensitive paradigm where critical care professionals are aware of implicit bias and how it influences professional interactions and medical decision making. To achieve this, we propose formation of an “Under-Represented in Medicine Knowledge and Education Group (3).”

This KEG aims to bring together those SCCM members of the African diaspora and allies who are interested in addressing disparities in healthcare, promoting leadership opportunities, collaborative research and developing instructional tool boxes. This KEG seeks to expand upon the work of the Diversity and Inclusion committee, which works  to improve multi professional gender and international diversity

The goals of this KEG are as follows:

1. Create healthcare disparities sessions and work groups for SCCM Congress
2. Create implicit bias and anti-racism workshops for SCCM
3. Recruitment and retention efforts specifically directed at URIM residents and students of varying health disciplines to create interest in a critical care career.
4. Increase ethnic diversity images on patient friendly material and society advertisements.
5. Create and distribute a needs assessment survey to assess the needs of the Black and underrepresented critical care professional.
6. Address burnout in Black and other underrepresented healthcare providers in critical care.
7. Create content for Critical Care Community publications

If you are interested in joining and supporting our KEG, please complete the form located at https://bit.ly/2SFYpzk. Please be sure to write ““Under-Represented in Medicine” when prompted to state the name of the KEG in question 1.

You will also need to complete a needs assessment. This can be found at: https://qfreeaccountssjc1.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_byGSGl6eWvvGPAN.