Building Trust & Equity in Internal Medicine: Oregon Health & Sciences University

In June 2021, the ABIM Foundation – in partnership with the Alliance for Academic Internal Medicine (AAIM), the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM), the American College of Physicians (ACP) and the Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation – awarded a total of $287,500 to 32 projects to rebuild trust and address health care diversity, equity, and inclusion in medical education and training.

Through one of the grants, Nandita Gupta, MD, FACC, and Brian Ricci, MD, are studying structural racism experienced by Hispanic community members with diabetes, hypertension, and/or obesity in order to develop anti-racism and structural competency curriculum for internal medicine residents at Hillsboro Medical Center in Hillsboro, Oregon.

By partnering with The ¡Salud! Mission, a mobile outreach program that provides free vital medical care to seasonal vineyard stewards and their families, Dr. Gupta and Dr. Ricci were able to connect with a previously hard-to-reach population and invite them to participate in a series of focus groups so they could study the relationship between racism and health. After analyzing the data collected during the patient focus groups, they found that several small changes could easily be made to build trust with patients and the community.