Staff-Student Partnership: Reforming a UK School of Pharmacy to Promote Racial Inclusion

Abstract

 

Britain has become more ethnically and culturally diverse (Office for National Statistics, 2018), but it is evident that this change in the demographic has not been fully reflected in education, including our School of Pharmacy. The need for inclusivity and representation is a priority in educating a multi-ethnic group of students to create a sense of belonging for all students and in addressing attainment disparities (Stevenson, 2012). Addressing this in the education of (future) health professionals, including pharmacists, is additionally driven by the need to produce a health workforce that understands health and illness across the UK’s diverse population (Gishen and Lokugamage, 2018). Maintaining a colonial perspective in the curriculum will promote negligence and implicit or explicit bias, potentially costing lives.

This student-led partnership evolved through a group Black 3rd and 4th year pharmacy students determined to address the lack of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic groups (BAME) representation within their curriculum, and working with the course directors, commenced the reformation of the formal and informal education in the School of Pharmacy.

 

This Case Study describes the first tangible work from the partnership which evaluated the course materials to determine where improvements could be made.