Studies show implicit bias among providers contributes to health disparities by negatively influencing clinical decision-making, provider-patient interactions, and patients' adherence to treatment plans. Consequently, patient-provider racial, ethnic, and language concordance is associated with improved patient satisfaction and health outcomes. As such, addressing the PA workforce diversity gap is essential to achieving health equity. Clinicians and academic educators will lead an open discussion on the intersection of implicit bias among healthcare providers, the PA workforce diversity gap, and health equity. This course engages attendees in case scenarios that consider patient and provider diversity in PA practice and underscore the need for practices and training that foster diversity, equity, and inclusion in PA education. Real-life case discussions will be used to present a balanced view of bias in the profession and suggest actionable tools for personal and systemic improvement.

Learning Objectives

At the conclusion of this activity, participants should be able to:

• Recognize how implicit biases and lack of PA workforce diversity impact patient care
• Discuss the importance of mitigating bias in healthcare and approaches to improve clinical decision-making
• Define inclusive healthcare practices and recognize the intersectionality between patient safety, language equity healthcare, well-being, and inclusion
• Outline strategies to identify and mitigate implicit bias in medical education and the PA profession
• Brainstorm strategies to employ DEI-B case studies in addressing D&I within the PA workforce