This month’s editorial was jointly written by the editors of 10 prominent family medicine publications, including JFP, and is being published simultaneously in all 10 publications. In addition to this statement, each editor has developed action steps for their respective journals. At JFP, we plan to take the steps detailed here to help eliminate systemic racism. We will:
- continue to seek Black, Latino, and Native American physicians to serve on the JFP editorial advisory board.
- solicit manuscripts from these underrepresented groups of physicians.
- recruit peer reviewers from underrepresented communities.
- re-evaluate the thoroughness of manuscripts; where there are racial or ethnic differences in presentation of diseases or treatment outcomes, we will ensure that these differences are highlighted.
If you are interested in helping us to achieve these goals, I encourage you to contact me at jfp.eic@gmail.com.
We must all band together to eliminate disparities and biases in medical education and medical care so that all people receive the same high standard of respect and care that every human being deserves.