Exciting news! In June, I was invited to speak at the prestigious RCOG World Congress in London, attended by 2300 delegates from 84 countries. My talk on the intersection of race and obstetrics & gynaecology was featured as one of the conference's highlights. Since then, I've received multiple positive messages encouraging me to share the information from my talk on this blog.
This week, I've created a special voice-over recording to accompany the presentation of my talk, titled "Why Do We Keep Talking About Race in Obstetrics & Gynaecology?". This talk represents a culmination of my professional goals to inspire constructive dialogue on equality, diversity, and inclusion. I aim to champion proactive and sustainable solutions to the inequalities that impact our workforce, patients, and service users in obstetrics and gynaecology.
Addressing these issues is not only a matter of social justice but also directly impacts patient safety, quality of care, and economic resource allocation.

As Professor Camara Jones states, inequalities "sap resources from the whole of society," including you!

I invite you to join the conversation, comment, and share this post to help bring about meaningful change in our quest for equality, diversity, and inclusion.

Enjoy!

Presentation made using PREZI and available HERE or by scanning the QR code.

resources

RUN AND BUY THIS BOOK: Divided: Racism, Medicine & Why We Need to Decolonise Healthcare by Dr Annabel Sowemimo

WATCH

• Harvard Audio-Visual Resource on how to reduce your own biases: Outsmarting Implicit Bias

• Professor Camara Jone’s Famous TED Talk on Youtube: Allegories on Racism

  LISTEN

• Harvard Medical School PGSSC’s Anti-racism statement: Available here

• Race & Health Podcast: Lancet Series on racism, xenophobia, discrimination and health

  RCOG RET resources

• RCOG eLearning Module: What we can do to reduce racism

• RCOG eLearning Module: What is Differential attainment

• Okolo ID, Khan R, Thakar R. Differential attainment, race and racism: levelling the playing field in obstetrics and gynaecology. Obstet Gynaecol Reprod Med 2022; 32: 152– 8.

• Okolo, I.D., Prasad, M., Siddiqui, F., Mountfield, J., Khan, R., Ward, S., Peregrine, E., Joash, K., Bowen, S., Agboola, B., Edwards, C., Elkhatim, S., Dore, S. and Thakar, R. (2023), A race to the finish line. Obstet Gynecol, 25: 92-96. https://doi.org/10.1111/tog.12863

  GMC

• General Medical Council. What is Differential Attainment?

• General Medical Council. How to Support Successful Training for Black and Minority Ethnic Doctors: Actions and Case Studies for Medical Royal Colleges and Faculties. London: General Medical Council; 2020

  OTHERS

• Boston Medical Center. Health Equity Multidisciplinary Grand Rounds

• Jones CP. Levels of racism: a theoretic framework and a gardener's tale. Am J Public Health 2000; 90: 1212– 15.

• Alliance For Innovation on Maternal Health: Quality Improvement Racial Disparities Bundle

• Cerdeña JP, Plaisime MV, Tsai J. From race-based to race-conscious medicine: how anti-racist uprisings call us to act. Lancet 2020; 396(10257):1125-1128.