New York State medical students, medical residents and physician assistant students will have to undergo racial bias training under a new bill.
The bill, sponsored by Democrat State Senator Julia Salazar, passed the Senate and is heading to the Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul’s desk for approval. The legislation amends the public health code and “Requires anti-bias training for every medical student, medical resident and physician assistant student in the state; requires the department of health to make an annual report on the implementation and effectiveness of such training.” (RELATED: Massachusetts LGBT Commission Says Withholding Minors From Transgender Procedures Should Be Added To Child Abuse Laws)
Medical students will have to provide the state evidence that the bias training was completed satisfactorily.
New York State Senate passes bill that would require every medical student, medical resident and physician assistant student in the state to attend implicit bias training
Implicit bias training, and implicit bias itself, have never been shown to have an effect on behavior — a… pic.twitter.com/ok50sQuFNs
— Wesley Yang (@wesyang) May 17, 2023
#NYSenate Bill S319, sponsored by Senator @salazarsenate, passed (42-19, unofficial). Requires anti-bias training for every medical student, medical resident and physician assistant student in the state:https://t.co/PbHmRouOEY
— New York State Senate (@NYSenate) May 17, 2023
President Joe Biden’s Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) requested $5 million for “implicit bias training” for health care providers in its 2023 budget proposal. The budget aimed to advance “equity through the work of the federal government and helps ensure [federal] programs serve people of color and other marginalized populations.”
The University of Utah School of Medicine has reportedly trained faculty through diversity, equity and inclusion training, according to a FOIA request by the medical group Do No Harm.
“People with this bias unwittingly associate a white face with positive words or feelings and a black face with negative words or feelings – and they may act on those associations,” the training claims.