TY - JOUR T1 - Decolonising medical education and exploring White fragility JF - BJGP Open JO - BJGP Open DO - 10.3399/BJGPO.2020.0147 VL - 4 IS - 5 SP - BJGPO.2020.0147 AU - Joseph Hartland AU - Eva Larkai Y1 - 2020/12/01 UR - http://bjgpopen.org/content/4/5/BJGPO.2020.0147.abstract N2 - On 17 August 2020, the BBC journalist Smitha Mundasad1 published a carefully researched article exploring the actions of the University of Bristol Medical School (BRMS) as it seeks to decolonise its curriculum and challenge structural forms of racism. In the subsequent days, this story was adapted and reproduced online by multiple news outlets2,3 who chose to preserve quotes from the only White male member of staff interviewed, exposing an important bias within the media. This article explores the subsequent abuse BRMS members experienced following these publications, why we believe this occurred, and why — despite this — we firmly stand by our commitment to confronting racism in medical education.Key conceptsThe work taking place at BRMS focuses on two key concepts that we believe are integral to achieving a curriculum that is fair to our students and staff, and serves the needs of a modern and diverse NHS.The first of these is ‘decolonisation’, first appearing in academic discourse in 2011 and stemming from the 1990s drive to create more inclusive curricula.4 Championed by students organising the ’Why is my curriculum sowhite’ protest,5 it was predominantly driven by the humanities, and has only more recently been applied to the field of medical education. Decolonisation seeks to examine and restructure curriculums that were designed within a colonial mindset, which centralises the White, eurocentric male’s narrative above all others.6 A decolonisation approach to … ER -