For hematologists looking to continue their medical education, maintain certifications, or simply sharpen their skills, ASH Academy On Demand offers a wide range of free web-based resources to do just that. ASH Academy On Demand provides the most current practice tools, clinical support, and educational products in hematology needed for clinicians, trainees, and educators at all stages of their careers. Resources include educational courses, live streamed ASH events and webinars, simulations, and self-assessments, among others.
One such offering is the ASH Health Equity Rounds Virtual Classroom, a new pilot series of seven online courses that began back in December 2021 with an in-person session on stigma and bias in sickle cell disease at the 63rd ASH Annual Meeting in Atlanta, Georgia.
Health Equity Rounds participants at the
63rd ASH Annual Meeting.
The Health Equity Rounds are interactive, case-based discussions led by an interdisciplinary panel of hematologists, health equity and public health experts, patients, and patient advocates that focus on health equity issues within hematology. Participants examine various disease cases and provocative health equity topics through experiential learning, breakout sessions, and interactive lectures.
The goals and objectives of the Health Equity Rounds are:
- to encourage providers to recognize and explore the impact of implicit bias and systemic racism on patients with hematologic conditions
- to inspire participants to engage at the individual, community, and institutional level to address and mitigate bias and systemic racism
- to provide solutions/tools to enhance providers’ confidence in their abilities to decrease the impact of implicit bias at the individual, community, and institutional levels
From left to right: Health Equity Rounds
speakers Maureen Okam Achebe, MD, MPH,
and Andrew Campbell, MD, and moderators
Ahmar Urooj Zaidi, MD, Lachelle Weeks,
MD, PhD, and Anjlee Mahajan, MD, at the
63rd ASH Annual Meeting in December 2021.
The course provides materials, including a Self-Reflection Workbook and the ASH Anti-Racism Toolkit, that participants can use throughout the sessions to enrich their learning. The Self-Reflection Workbook features a diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) self-assessment and journey map for participants to consider their own personal experiences prior to starting the course. Optional self-reflection pages for each session topic ask participants to rate their understanding of bias within that hematologic condition and to develop strategies for mitigating bias when caring for patients or in their research. A helpful glossary of commonly used terms in DEI and racial equity work is also provided in the workbook.
The ASH Anti-Racism Toolkit provides reading lists, courses, academic talks, and video resources that participants can use to supplement their understanding of health equity. Topics covered in the Tool Kit include developing an anti-racism framework, racism in the context of health care, medicine, and hematology, and addressing racism and implementing change in clinical, academic, and scholarly settings. The ASH Anti-Racism Toolkit can be accessed online at hematology.org/diversity-equity-and-inclusion/anti-racism-toolkit.
How to Get Involved
For interested participants, signing up for the Health Equity Rounds Virtual Classroom is quick and easy.
The Health Equity Rounds Virtual Classroom is free to all. Participants do not need to be an ASH member to access the courses but will need to create an ASH profile to enroll. Once enrolled, participants are automatically signed up for all Health Equity Rounds sessions but are able to pick and choose which individual sessions they would like to attend.
For more information on the Health Equity Rounds Virtual Classroom and to sign up for courses, visit the ASH Academy On Demand website at academy.hematology.org/page/online-courses.
Course Schedule
The Health Equity Round Virtual Classroom sessions take place bi-monthly on the first Thursday of the month from 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. Eastern time via Zoom. Check out the schedule below to mark your calendar for upcoming sessions:
■ Pediatric Malignancies: Discussion of How to Incorporate Data Collection on Material Hardship Into Collective Group Trials and Description of Novel Poverty-Targeted Intervention for Pediatric Cancer
June 2, 2022, 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.
Moderated by Tiffany Lucas, MD
■ Acute Myeloid Leukemia: Hematological Malignancies Inequities
August 4, 2022, 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.
Moderated by Lachelle Weeks, MD, PhD
■ Cell Therapy and Transplant: Disparities in Access to Cell Therapies and Transplants
October 6, 2022, 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.
Moderated by Yvonne Efebera, MD
■ Gender Disparities in Bleeding Disorders
December 2022, in person at the 64th ASH Annual Meeting in New Orleans, Louisiana
Moderated by Jackie Powers, MD
Previously recorded sessions can also be accessed through ASH Academy On Demand. Past session topics include thrombosis in pregnancy and health inequities in multiple myeloma research.