Mitigating Implicit Bias in Radiation Oncology. Adv Radiat Oncol 2021;6(5):100738
Date
08/13/2021Pubmed ID
34381930Pubmed Central ID
PMC8339323DOI
10.1016/j.adro.2021.100738Scopus ID
2-s2.0-85111316849 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site) 4 CitationsAbstract
Implicit bias is one of the most insidious and least recognizable mechanisms that can cause inequity and disparities. There is increasing evidence that both implicit and explicit biases have a negative effect on patient outcomes and patient-physician relationships. Given the impact of Implicit bias, a joint session between ASTROs Committee on Health Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion and the National Cancer Institute (the ASTRO-National Cancer Institute Diversity Symposium) was held during the American Society of Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) 2020 Annual Meeting, to address the effect of implicit bias in radiation oncology through real life and synthesized hypothetical scenario discussions. Given the value of this session to the radiation oncology community, the scenarios and discussion are summarized in this manuscript. Our goal is to heighten awareness of the multiple settings in which implicit bias can occur as well as discuss resources to address bias.