As founding partners and investors of Illustrate Change, we are advancing racial health equity in medical education by increasing the diversity represented in medical illustrations. Less than 5% of medical images show dark skin,6 and through a partnership with the Association of Medical Illustrators (AMI), Illustrate Change launched the AMI Diversity Fellowship to help expand a growing library of illustrations depicting people of color. These illustrations will better equip Healthcare Professionals (HCPs) with information needed to help patients feel seen and build a culture of inclusion in healthcare.
Additionally, through a collaboration with Columbia University, we are engaged with HCPs across the U.S. to test the impact of the Continuing Medical Education curriculum on recognition, identification and diagnostic skills as it relates to characterizing dermatologic diseases for both simple and complex presentations in persons of color.
6Diversity of Skin Images in Medical Texts: Recommendations for Student Advocacy in Medical Education, Trisha Kaundinya and Roopal V Kundu, accessed February 2024.
