Complete the Implicit Association Test (IAT):
Visit Project Implicit’s website. and choose one of the IATs related to diversity, such as the tests on race, gender, or disability. These tests are designed to reveal unconscious associations and attitudes that may influence your behavior and decisions.
Reflect on Your Results:
After completing the test, write a short reflection (200–300 words) addressing the following questions:
What insights did the test give you about your implicit biases?
How might these biases influence your interactions with diverse patient populations?
Were there any results that surprised you? Why or why not?
What actions or strategies could you implement to reduce the impact of these biases in your practice?
Link to Cultural Competency in Patient Care:
In your reflection, consider how increased awareness of unconscious biases can enhance your cultural competency. Discuss how this knowledge will support your goal of providing patient-centered, inclusive care, especially for those from culturally diverse backgrounds. Support your discussion with scholarly references.
These biases could profoundly influence interactions with diverse patient populations. For instance, an implicit preference could manifest as microaggressions—subtle, often unintentional slights—such as automatically appearing less warm, making less eye contact, or giving shorter explanations to Black patients. It might also lead to diagnostic overshadowing, where I might subconsciously attribute a Black patient's symptoms (e.g., pain, anxiety) to a social factor rather than a serious medical condition, potentially leading to undertreatment or delayed care.
The result was surprising because I genuinely believe in health equity and strive to treat all individuals the same. The surprise reinforces the definition of an implicit bias: it operates automatically, distinct from one's conscious, explicit beliefs. This dissonance highlights the crucial need for vigilance.
To reduce the impact of this bias, I will implement debiasing strategies:
Individuation: Before a clinical encounter, I will deliberately focus on specific, unique facts about the patient's history, lifestyle, and social context rather than relying on general social category (race).
Stereotype Replacement: When I notice an implicit thought or stereotype arising, I will consciously stop, recognize the bias, and replace it with an unbiased thought or behavior (e.g., consciously increasing eye contact and ensuring full, clear communication).
Linking Bias Awareness to Cultural Competency
Increased awareness of unconscious biases is fundamental to enhancing cultural competency and achieving patient-centered care. Cultural competency is often defined as having the knowledge and skills to understand and respond to the unique needs of diverse populations. However, bias awareness moves beyond mere knowledge of cultures to address the attitudinal component of care.
Unconscious biases are significant barriers to inclusive care because they interfere with objective clinical judgment. By understanding that my own cognitive shortcuts may lead to unfair assumptions, I move toward cultural humility—a lifelong commitment to self-reflection and recognizing power imbalances (Tervalon & Murray-Garcia, 1998). This self-awareness prevents me from making assumptions about a patient's health beliefs, adherence levels, or pain tolerance based on race or ethnicity.
Sample Answer
Reflection on Implicit Bias: The Race IAT
Hypothetical IAT Results
Test Taken: Race IAT (Black-White)
Result: Strong automatic preference for White people over Black people.
Reflection and Analysis (290 Words)
Completing the Race IAT revealed a strong automatic preference for White people over Black people. This result, though concerning, provided a necessary insight into my implicit biases, which are automatic associations residing outside of my conscious awareness and conflicting with my stated values of equality.