Caucusing activity

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 Right Hand of Privilege.”

  • Discussion prompts/questions might include:

    • What came up for you reading this article?

    • Did anything surprise you?

    • Have you ever considered your privilege/disadvantage related to your handedness?

    • How does being right-handed advantage you? Have you ever thought about how being left-handed might make things more challenging at times?

    • What other kinds of privileges do you have or do you see in the world?

• Report back

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