Caucusing Activity

Pre-work

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.)?

• Discuss

  • Ask groups to discuss their thoughts and reactions to the readings.

  • Discussion prompts/questions might include:

    • Think about a time when you were told you did something or said something offensive or racist. What emotions came up in the moment?

      • If you cannot think of any examples, why might people of color decide not to point out offensive behavior?

    • Have you ever told another person that something they did or said was painful or offensive?

      • What types of responses did you find respectful?

      • What reactions or responses didn’t go well?

      • Did you notice an emotional response in the other person?

      • How might different emotional responses shut down hearing feedback and promoting introspection? How might they discourage future feedback?

    • Did any of Brené’s “blindspot indicators” resonate with you? Which ones? Have you noticed other “blindspot indicators” that you have?

    • When your body is having a “shame reaction,” what could you do to re-engage your pre-frontal cortex and calm down your limbic reaction?

      • Are there actions that might be helpful? Do you have a mantra or self-talk that help interrupt a fight or flight response?

    • What are examples of how shaming and holding someone accountable can play out when talking about race and racism?

• Report back

  • Ask each group to share some highlights of what they discussed with the large group.