Decolonizing Medical Education, Research and Practice
- 1st Edition - June 1, 2026
- Latest edition
- Editor: Faadiel Essop
- Language: English
Decolonizing Medical Education, Research and Practice delves deeply into the complexities of transforming medicine by examining curricula, research, and clinical care. The book h… Read more
Decolonizing Medical Education, Research and Practice delves deeply into the complexities of transforming medicine by examining curricula, research, and clinical care. The book highlights how colonial legacies have shaped medical perspectives, resulting in persistent inequities and barriers to fair healthcare access. By critically analyzing the ways in which colonialism fostered false narratives about race and embedded systemic racism, the text underscores the urgent need to dismantle these longstanding biases. The first section offers a thorough critique of how Eurocentric traditions continue to influence medical education and practice, perpetuating discriminatory treatment and unequal outcomes.
The second part of the book shifts focus to solutions, featuring case studies and practical strategies for creating a more inclusive, culturally sensitive healthcare system. Written by leading global experts, it is a vital resource for medical students, postgraduates, clinicians, educators, researchers, and policymakers interested in meaningful change. The authors aim to inspire a new era in medicine that acknowledges past harms and works toward equitable healthcare for communities worldwide.
The second part of the book shifts focus to solutions, featuring case studies and practical strategies for creating a more inclusive, culturally sensitive healthcare system. Written by leading global experts, it is a vital resource for medical students, postgraduates, clinicians, educators, researchers, and policymakers interested in meaningful change. The authors aim to inspire a new era in medicine that acknowledges past harms and works toward equitable healthcare for communities worldwide.
- Presents practical and theoretical ways to decolonize medical and allied health sciences curricula, research, and clinical practice
- Informs medical and biomedical researchers of the false premise of using racial groups in clinical studies
- Shares unique insights on how colonialism and persistent scientific racism have influenced clinical practices
Academics at medical schools/colleges, under- and postgraduate students pursuing medical, allied health and biomedical sciences, postdoctoral fellows, doctors/clinicians, health care professionals and workers, leaders in universities, leaders in research and healthcare, policy makers
Part I: Challenges
1. Intersections between colonialism, scientific racism and race-based medical practice
2. Case study: colonialism and malaria
3. Case study: black people feel less pain than whites
4. Systemic racism and healthcare
5. Case study: structural racism and myocardial infarction
6. Case study: structural racism and BiDil
7. Case study: a clinician's personal experiences and reflections on racism in medicine
8. Politics determine healthcare outcomes
9. The role of medical schools in propagating physician bias in terms of race
Part II. Solutions
10. Remedying racial inequities in medical education, research, and clinical care
11. Removing race from human genetics
12. Decolonizing medicine - the case for a Global South-centered model
13. The twin model - decolonizing research through equitable collaborations
14. How to decolonize the medical curriculum
15. Curriculum reform on race in preclinical medical education
16. Case study: decolonizing the curriculum of postgraduate biomedical students
17. Integrating indigenous knowledge into the curriculum
18. Integrating African traditional health knowledge into the health sciences curriculum
1. Intersections between colonialism, scientific racism and race-based medical practice
2. Case study: colonialism and malaria
3. Case study: black people feel less pain than whites
4. Systemic racism and healthcare
5. Case study: structural racism and myocardial infarction
6. Case study: structural racism and BiDil
7. Case study: a clinician's personal experiences and reflections on racism in medicine
8. Politics determine healthcare outcomes
9. The role of medical schools in propagating physician bias in terms of race
Part II. Solutions
10. Remedying racial inequities in medical education, research, and clinical care
11. Removing race from human genetics
12. Decolonizing medicine - the case for a Global South-centered model
13. The twin model - decolonizing research through equitable collaborations
14. How to decolonize the medical curriculum
15. Curriculum reform on race in preclinical medical education
16. Case study: decolonizing the curriculum of postgraduate biomedical students
17. Integrating indigenous knowledge into the curriculum
18. Integrating African traditional health knowledge into the health sciences curriculum
- Edition: 1
- Latest edition
- Published: June 1, 2026
- Language: English
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Faadiel Essop
Dr. Faadiel Essop is currently a professor in the Division of Medical Physiology at Stellenbosch University, as well as Director and Co-Founder of the Centre for Cardio-metabolic Research Centre. Dr. Essop is the current President of the African Association of Physiological Sciences, a board member of the General Assembly of the International Union of Physiological Sciences, and chairperson of the South African National Committee of the IUPS. He’s also served as a member of the International Committee of the American Physiological Society and is an elected Fellow of the American Physiological Society. During 2021 he was awarded the PSSA’s prestigious Lifetime Career Achievement Award. Dr. Essop is currently the recipient of a Teaching Advancement at University fellowship where the focus is to develop a philosophical framework for the introduction of broader humanities and arts concepts into the biomedical, science and engineering curricula in order to ensure more holistic graduates.
Affiliations and expertise
Professor, Chair, Division of Cell and Medical Physiology, University of Stellenbosch, Stellenbosch, South Africa