Conceived by former medical student leaders, Tour for Diversity in Medicine is a grassroots effort to educate, inspire, and cultivate future minority physicians and dentists. Current trends in racial and ethnic health care disparities are widely documented and a major focus of many recent federal and state health policy changes. One frequently discussed solution is the need to increase the number of minority providers.

Healthcare disparities are defined by the Institute of Medicine as “racial or ethnic differences in the quality of healthcare that are not due to access-related factors or clinical needs, preferences, and appropriateness of intervention.”  Health care disparities have significant economic consequences for the health care system, and in turn, for the business of medicine.

Implicit bias is the unconscious collection of stereotypes and attitudes that we develop toward certain groups of people, which can affect our patient relationships and care decisions. You can overcome implicit bias by first discovering your blind spots and then actively working to dismiss stereotypes and attitudes that affect your interactions. While individual action is helpful, organizations and institutions must also work to eliminate systemic problems.