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Invited Commentary
October 21, 2021

Beyond Implicit Bias to Explicit Action

Author Affiliations
  • 1Department of Ophthalmology, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill
  • 2Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland
  • 3Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, W. K. Kellogg Eye Center, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
JAMA Ophthalmol. 2021;139(12):1283-1284. doi:10.1001/jamaophthalmol.2021.4320

Heightened awareness of societal inequities and injustices has been prevalent in the US in recent years. This awareness has spurred new enthusiasm among many to eliminate racial and ethnic disparities in health and health care, moving toward health equity. A key component of achieving equity in ophthalmology is increasing diversity in our workforce. Underrepresented racial and ethnic minority physicians are more likely to care for patients in medically underserved areas, patients of lower socioeconomic status, and patients from racial and ethnic minority groups, and these patients may all experience better health outcomes.1 Ophthalmology remains one of the least diverse specialties in medicine.

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