9th Annual Conference

Contemporary US society is dominated by entrenched hierarchies of race and class,
widening economic inequality, and large-scale displacement and migration. Structural competency is an emerging educational paradigm for understanding and responding
to disparities in health related to economic inequalities and hierarchies of race, gender, sexuality, and immigration status.

In this session we will use case studies of both patients and providers to:
1) Examine how “social structures” (i.e. policies, economic systems, and institutions such as criminal justice and education) have produced and maintain social inequities and health disparities, often along the lines of social categories such as race, class, gender, and sexuality
2) Understand how social structures shape our own working conditions in addition to our patients’ lives.
3) Discuss alternatives to the current over-emphasis on individual behavior, culture, and biology/genetics in the practice of health care
3) Plan collaborative responses to social structures that can take place both within and outside of our workplaces and draw on the strengths of integrative health care.

Presenter 1: Social science researcher focused on integrative medicine in vulnerable communities, member of Bay Area Structural Competency Working Group
Presenter 2: Integrative physician at UCSF Children's Hospital Oakland, member of Bay Area Structural Competency Working Group
Presenter 3: Practicing therapist with extensive experience with underserved patients

Health disparities; health equity; social determinants of health; collaboration

Presentation/Lecture with Discussion: present information and engage the learners in discussion about the material.

small group discussion and writing

This session is appropriate for all audiences and skill levels