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- Page navigation anchor for RE: The confluence of culture and science - where do we draw a line?RE: The confluence of culture and science - where do we draw a line?
Recently, a move towards subtracting race altogether from medical risk calculators has advanced in the medical community (2). Race has been routinely utilized as a variable in a number of risk calculators when assessing the prognostics and making clinical decisions about patient care. The primary basis for the abolition of race from these calculators is the premise that race is a socially constructed classification system without a genetic basis.
In the context of critical race theory, we must question the implications of removing adjustments for race in the calculation of risk and medical decision-making for patients. If there were no scientific basis for performing these race-based corrections in these risk calculators, how do we incorporate the racial risk factors or otherwise, biological risk factors of inheritance? How do we factor in under-diagnosed conditions in racial minorities? How do we consider and differentiate between health disparities and calculated risk for individuals? And where do we draw the line between evidence-based medicine and social assumptions and norms?
Competing Interests: None declared.References
- Rahel Zewude, Malika Sharma. Critical race theory in medicine. CMAJ 2021;193:E739-E741.
- https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2021/07/how-scientists-are-subtracting-race-medical-risk-calculators
- Page navigation anchor for RE: CRT undermines the scientific methodRE: CRT undermines the scientific method
In their paper, the authors present several examples, both historical and contemporary, of racism in medicine. These examples are indeed very compelling and deserve to be brought to light. However, the authors conflate the presence of this problem with the viability of the solution they offer in the form of Critical Race Theory (CRT).
CRT is indeed a “radical revolution”, as the authors themselves acknowledge. Unfortunately, it is radical because it undermines the very principles upon which the advancement of medical knowledge depends. It is clearly stated by its proponents that CRT explicitly questions the concept of rational thought, objectivity, and the scientific method. If CRT is incorporated into the medical curriculum, as the authors advocate, we will be propounding an ideology directly opposed to the scientific method to which we owe the remarkable medical advancements since the Enlightenment; advancements that have benefited the entire human race. We would do this to our detriment, and the detriment of our patients.Competing Interests: None declared.References
- Rahel Zewude, Malika Sharma. Critical race theory in medicine. CMAJ 2021;193:E739-E741.
- Delagdo R, Stefancic J. Critical Race Theory: An Introduction. New York and London: New York University Press; 2001. 3 p.
- Sensoy O, DiAngelo R. Is everyone really equal? An Introduction to Key Concepts in Social Justice Education. 2nd ed. New York: Teachers College Press; 2017. 50-51 p.