RLI On Demand

October 2020: Bringing Awareness to Implicit Bias Interactive Educational Module

Faculty: Carolyn Meltzer, MD, FACR, Carolynn DeBenedectis, MD, and Johnson B. Lightfoote, MD, MBA, FACR

Radiologist sitting at computer

Everyone holds implicit biases. This interactive module defines implicit bias, encourages you to identify and acknowledge your own hidden biases, and shares strategies to help mitigate the unintended consequences of implicit bias. The more we are aware of our biases, the more we can change the way they impact our decision making and our interactions with patients and colleagues. The first step is awareness, which is the focus of this module. Once we examine and unpack our own implicit biases, we can begin to dismantle the larger systemic structures that hold inequality in place.

Learning Objectives


At the conclusion of this module, participants will be able to:

  • Define implicit bias
  • Identify how implicit biases may impact health care workplace decision-making and interactions
  • Describe ways to mitigate the negative effects of implicit bias in your practice

Interactive Module


Module Snapshot

Faculty Bios


Lightfoote_190

Johnson Lightfoote, M.D., M.B.A., serves as Medical Director of the Department of Radiology at Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center, having previously served in that capacity at the University of Southern California’s University Hospital and at Beverly Hospital in Montebello. Johnson received his A.B. in Engineering and Applied Physics, and his M.D. from Harvard University, and his M.B.A. from Pepperdine University, concentrating on capitation and prospective payment in radiology. After residencies at Stanford University and the University of California San Francisco and Irvine, his fellowships included computed tomography and interventional radiology. He was certified by the American Board of Radiology in 1982, and holds the Certificate of Added Qualifications in Neuroradiology (1999). He served as Chief of Staff at Pomona Valley Hospital for 2011, and was admitted to Fellowship in the American College of Radiology in 2011.

Johnson is Chair of the Committee on General Diversity of the ACR; past Chair of the Section on Radiology of the NMA; member of the Governmental Relations Commission and the Communications and Membership Commission of the ACR. He serves on the Executive Council of the California Radiological Society, and the Radiologic Technologists Certification Commission of the State of California.

Dr. Lightfoote’s current responsibilities include management of imaging services; implementation of major projects, including PACS, CT, PET, and MR imagers; strategic imaging services planning; and design and management of joint ventures. His recent papers and lectures have included teleradiology; PACS; physician practice management; regulatory compliance and certification; physician productivity, compensation and staffing; technology dissemination; emergency CT; health care financing and access; and stroke programs in community hospitals. His most recent presentations have included imaging and intervention in stroke, digital mammography and tomosynthesis, CT radiation exposure, and MR at 3 T. His clinical radiology expertise is in mammography, CT, MR, neuroradiology, stroke centers, and teleradiology.

Johnson enjoys actively serving on the admissions and alumni councils for Phillips Academy, Harvard College, Harvard Medical School, and the Pepperdine Graziadio School of Business Management. He has been a leader of Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity since 1997. Dr. Lightfoote has two adult children in Los Angeles and Philadelphia.

Meltzer

Carolyn C. Meltzer, MD, FACR is the William P. Timmie Professor and Chair of Radiology and Imaging Sciences and Executive Associate Dean of Faculty Academic Advancement, Leadership and Inclusion at Emory University School of Medicine. She is a neuroradiologist and nuclear medicine physician whose translational research has focused on serotonin-mediated brain function in normal aging, dementia, and other late-life neuropsychiatric disorders. She is also involved in oncologic imaging research and, while at the University of Pittsburgh, oversaw the clinical evaluation of the world’s first combined PET/CT scanner. Dr. Meltzer has authored approximately 200 publications and lectured nationally and internationally.

Reflective of her commitment to academic medicine, Dr. Meltzer has served in numerous national leadership roles and professional and advisory boards including the administrative board of the AAMC Council of Faculty and Academic Societies, Advisory Council for the National Institute for Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering, American College of Radiology Board of Chancellors, Radiological Society of North America R&E Foundation Board, Secretary-Treasurer for the Society for Chairs of Academic Radiology Departments, and Executive Committee of the International Society of Strategic Studies in Radiology. She is a past president of the American Society of Neuroradiology and Academy for Radiology and Biomedical Imaging Research. Her contributions to academia have been recognized with the AUR Gold Medal, ASNR Outstanding Researcher Award, ASNR Gold Medal, and RSNA Outstanding Contributions in Research Award. Highly engaged in professional and leadership development and promoting inclusion, Dr. Meltzer has individually mentored more than 60 pre and post-doctoral trainees and junior faculty. Under her leadership, the Emory Radiology Leadership Academy was founded and has now graduated over 100 professionals.

Dr. Meltzer received her medical degree from The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and completed her postdoctoral medical training at The Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland. She is board-certified in both Diagnostic Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, with subspecialty certification in Neuroradiology and advanced training in positron emission tomography (PET), and participated as a Fellow in the prestigious Hedwig van Ameringen Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine Program for Women (ELAM). She is a fellow of the American College of Radiology and the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology.

Headshot of Dr. DeBenedectis

 Carolynn DeBenedectis, MD is a fellowship trained Women’s Imager who specializes in breast imaging in the radiology department at the University of Massachusetts Medical School/UMass Memorial Medical Center. Dr. DeBenedectis serves as the Director of the Radiology Residency Program and is the Vice Chair for Education. Dr. DeBenedectis research interests include teaching effective communication skills to radiologists, diversity and inclusion in Radiology, and most recently health care disparities in Radiology. She recently was awarded the APDR Jerome Arndt Grant to develop a curriculum for teaching Radiologist about Health Care Disparities. Dr DeBenedectis has served on numerous national Radiology committees most notably she is co-chair of the APDR Diversity Committee.