“Structural racism is why I’m leaving organized psychiatry.” That’s the title of an op-ed for Stat News written by Dr. Ruth Shim, a physician and professor of cultural psychiatry at UC Davis. Dr. Shim says she ended her membership with organized psychiatry, specifically with the American Psychiatric Association, due to racism, microaggressions, and because “organized psychiatry has repeatedly refused to examine its contributions to this system.” We talk to Dr. Shim about the issue.
She will be the keynote speaker of an upcoming antiracism conference in Rochester called “From Theory to Practice: Moving individuals, organizations and the community.” It is being hosted by Coordinated Care Services, Inc. Organizers say the conference moves beyond theory and will offer concrete steps to create meaningful change. What are those steps? And how can they be taken by individuals and organizations?
Our guests discuss these questions and more:
- Ruth Shim, M.D., M.P.H., associate dean of diverse and inclusive education, director of cultural psychiatry, and Luke and Grace Kim Professor in Cultural Psychiatry at the University of California, Davis
- Lenora Reid-Rose, senior director of strategic initiatives and racial equity at Coordinated Care Services, Inc.
