Hastings Center Report
Strategic Ethics: Physician Associations and Their Roles in Pursuing Racial Equity
Abstract: Since 2020, physician associations have become more vocal about confronting racism, initiating a wide range of advocacy efforts, making programming changes, and issuing public statements on the topic. However, associations have directed their enthusiasm about addressing racism toward an overly broad range of statements, initiatives, and legislative advocacy. In this essay, we provide some guidance regarding which race-based actions are best suited for physicians’ professional associations. We describe traits of three types of physician associations in the United States—state, specialty, and affinity—highlighting characteristics of each and discussing their strengths and weaknesses regarding different types of action around racism. It is our hope that we might direct concerned physicians toward initiatives that draw upon association strengths and that can serve as the basis for association-specific advocacy niches—and away from initiatives that enable associations to signal that they are engaged in racial-equity work without accountability or efficacy.