Are we there yet? A Mapping review to identify and organize bias research in medical education curriculum

Abstract

Abstract BACKGROUND Medical schools and residency programs often incorporate training to reduce physician biases towards patients and their conditions. In order to organize available literature, a mapping review was conducted to identify the categories of bias studied within medical student (MS), resident (Res) and mixed populations. Studies were further characterized based on their research goal as either documenting evidence of bias or bias intervention or both. METHODS Online databases (PubMed, PsycINFO, WebofScience) between 1980 and 2021 were searched for articles. All references were imported into Covidence for independent screening of studies. Conflicts were resolved by reviewers and the same protocol was followed for full text reviews. Studies were sorted by goal: ‘evidence of bias’ (EOB) and/or ‘bias intervention’ (BI), and by population (MS or Res or mixed). Further, biases were mapped into descriptive categories. RESULTS A total of 139 articles fit the inclusion criteria for data extraction. The mapping analysis generated 11 categories of bias and showed that bias against race/ethnicity, specific diseases/conditions, and weight were the most researched topics. Of the studies included, there was a higher ratio of EOB:BI studies at the MS level. While at the Res level, a lower ratio of EOB:BI was found. CONCLUSIONS This study should be of interest to institutions, program directors and medical educators who wish to specifically address a category of bias and identify where there is a dearth of research. This study also underscores the need to introduce bias interventions at the MS level.