Structural racism continues to have a tremendous impact on Maternal and infant mortality. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, “black women are three to four times more likely to die from pregnancy related causes than white women.” This problem is pervasive because black mothers in particular are undervalued. The lack of access and poor quality of care by physicians are the leading factors to maternal and infant mortality.

A great way to improve infant and maternal mortality is through the integration of cultural competency education. While doing research on UNC School of Medicine and reviewing their current school curriculum, there’s some great opportunities in place. These opportunities consist of the TEC curriculum which are the foundation phase, application phase and individualization phase. UNC School of Medicine curriculum over the years has proven to prepare its students for the workforce by continuing to teach the art and science of medicine. However, there is no curriculum information specifically on diversity, social justice and health disparities that exist in the health care system today. 

Infant and Maternal Mortality rates for the black community continue to rise in the United States daily. Changing the approach of the medical school curriculum would allow the rate to decrease. One way that UNC School of Medicine can incorporate this topic into their coursework is by making improvements to the TEC curriculum. Specifically, it can be done during their application phase of the program. In this phase, the focus is on meeting the needs of patients in specific settings rather than being organized according to departments and specialties. In my proposal, UNC school of medicine should allow students to collaborate with the Pediatrics, Obstetrics and Gynecology department on maternal and infant health by completing an annual seminar to learn the principles of justice. Many medical schools are aware of the  high maternal and infant mortality in the Black community, but choose not to implement the information for change. The most important goal for me is to improve the health and wellbeing of women and infants- across the US. 

 The Association of Maternal and Child Health program holds an annual conference on Maternal and Child Health in efforts to address the most pressing crises and social issues in the United States. I think this should be added to the medical school curriculum as a requirement for all students to attend due to the continuous rise of maternal and infant mortality. At this seminar, under the guidance of their residency program attendants, students should be engaged in all topics regarding maternal and child health to understand and gain knowledge on the importance of this issue to help change the world. 

Changing medical school curriculum in the United States would allow class discussions, presentations and assessments on health inequities, especially for maternal mortality. Physicians are continuously overlooking African American women by thinking they feel less pain than white women which is very untrue and needs attention. By signing this petition, we could help reduce many rising racial issues. Creating an informative Instagram account for medical school curriculum changes would be a great idea. This would be a source of knowledge for the world to become more educated on maternal and infant mortality, specifically for African Americans.