Ask participants to read chapter 12, “Common Patterns of Well-Intentioned White People” from Robin DiAngelo’s book What Does It Mean to Be White?
Pre-work
Quiet room with enough chairs/space for all participants. If you have a group larger than ~6 people, chairs should ideally be mobile so people can break into small groups and then join the large group again.
Supplies
Activity
Read “caucusing guidelines” to the group
If you have a group that includes multiple levels of medical hierarchy (medical students, residents, attendings, nurses, MAs…) consider explicitly pointing out that expertise in medicine does not equate to expertise on issues of race and equity. One example, “For this exercise, experience and expertise may flip from how they are in clinic or on the wards. The attendings in the room may be the learners today and an MA may be the expert. Let’s recognize that we are all here to learn, share, and challenge each other.”
Break into small groups.
Group size may depend on the size of your large group. We have found that groups of 3-4 work well. Breaking into small groups allows people to be more vulnerable than they might be in a large group. It also makes it challenging to not participate.
Consider the make up of your group and how you might do this. Do you want mixed groups that include all levels (ex. student, intern, attending) or would it be helpful to break into groups that might be more comfortable for challenging discussions (ex. group attendings, students, residents separately)? Are the groups assigned in advance or do you have your group “count off” and then group by number (all the “1s” together, “2s” together, etc.)?
Discussion questions
Which pattern did you most identify with?
Where there multiple patterns that you’ve noticed in yourself?
Have you demonstrated different patterns over time?
When you catch yourself in one of these patterns, what have you found helpful to interrupt them?
Report back
Ask each group to share some highlights of what they discussed with the large group.