2023 ARRS ANNUAL MEETING - ABSTRACTS

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E2478. Positive Impact of an "Upstander" Workshop Teaching Radiologists How to Recognize and Gracefully Challenge Bias in the Workplace
Authors
  1. Michael Hood; Wake Forest School of Medicine
  2. Jennifer Schroeder; Wake Forest School of Medicine
Objective:
Bias occurs commonly in the medical workplace, and the radiology department is no exception. Racist, prejudicial, and discriminatory behaviors adversely affect clinicians, patients, and staff. Although a majority of radiology residents and attendings at a single institution reported receiving prior training on bias, over 60% still reported discomfort in challenging bias when they personally witnessed or experienced it. We created a "Radiology Upstander" workshop, an educational program designed to prepare participants to recognize and challenge these often-uncomfortable moments with grace.

Materials and Methods:
The workshop was implemented in two interactive, in-person sessions attended by all participants. The first session was a lecture format that presented a background on types of bias, forms of micro-aggressions, methods to recognize workplace bias, and strategies to gracefully challenge these biases. The second session was a large-group format featuring several actors role-playing in short scenarios first depicting common instances of workplace bias, then modeling upstander behavior with verbal strategies from the first session. At the end of the workshop, we administered a voluntary post-pre survey to participants using a 5-point Likert scale (1 = strongly disagree, 5 = strongly agree).

Results:
The entire residency program completed the workshop as well as over a dozen faculty and staff members, with a survey response rate of approximately 34% [n = 17]. The curricular feedback was positive, with 100% of responders indicating agreement in their understanding of the types of bias (22% average increase) and perception of their own biases (11% average increase). Responders also indicated increased agreement that the workshop helped them recognize that bias both creates and maintains workplace inequity. Feedback was particularly positive regarding strategies to challenge workplace bias. Before the workshop, a majority of participants indicated neutrality or disagreement about feeling comfortable to confront bias against others (65% [n = 11]) and themselves (76% [n = 13]). After the workshop, participants indicated agreement about feeling comfortable to confront bias against others (100%; 54% increase) and themselves (76%; 40% increase). In the end, 94% reported that they could be an upstander when encountering instances of bias by using the material discussed during the workshop.

Conclusion:
The Upstander workshop was successful in promoting recognition of bias in the radiology department and strengthening participants’ responses to witnessed discrimination. Institutionally supported education and faculty development are critical to address the effects of racism and inequity in healthcare.