General Surgery Textbooks Lack Thorough Understanding of Racial Disparities in Healthcare

General surgery textbooks lack thorough understanding of racial disparities in healthcare, potentially contributing to inequities experienced by minority patients. A study analyzed 13 textbooks and found that the majority of passages discussing medical differences among racial/ethnic groups did not address systemic causes or the role of racism. Only a small percentage of passages indicated that race was the cause of medical differences, and even fewer explicitly discussed racism or discrimination. The study emphasizes the need for textbooks to provide more comprehensive and accurate information on health disparities.