This month's column unveils the changes to come to this blog and discusses how seemingly novel research will prove valuable in pinpointing disparities.

This month's column discusses bias against black applicants for NIH grants, tough times for some Southern women, and a significant weakness in the Affordable Care Act.

A press release from the US Department of Health and Human Services from late June of this year underscores a new and increased focus on the role of data collection in decreasing disparities.

Work is under way to better understand the term "health equity," how it is are used, and how it can be integrated into academic training environments and clinical practice.

The author uses some recent literature, and events at the AAPA House of Delegates last month, to argue that social determinants of health demand the clinician's attention.

Here's a quick run-down of this year's Las Vegas CME topics related to diversity, health disparities, and building in cultural competencies.

The upcoming AAPA conference in Las Vegas features a not-to-miss talk on the use of a racial designation in the oral or written patient case presentation, the relevance of such designation to patient care, and the effect of such designation on clinician bias and stereotyping.

Evidence consistently shows that African Americans receive less effective treatment for pain than their white counterparts. The study discussed in this month's column suggests that an intervention called "perspective-taking" can effectively combat this disparity.

A recent issue of the AMA's "Virtual Mentor" contains an excellent commentary on the different ways that the US and the UK approach obesity. While the UK makes systematic changes in how it approaches obesity, we continue to view it here as an individual, psychological problem of the obese individual.

Several studies provide evidence that very brief instruction in perspective-taking—a method by which clinicians can enhance empathy—may play a valuable role in building the clinician-patient relationship.