Bias Reduction in Internal Medicine Study (BRIM)

The BRIM study is a cluster-randomized trial, including 20 US Departments of Medicine. The divisions in each Department of Medicine are put into one of two groups (based on characteristics reported during baseline data collection). The first group of divisions have training from the University of Wisconsin team (this occurred in January 2020), and the second group will attend workshops led by a local team of BRIM leads (DOM faculty).

BRIM Banner Timeline

Mission

The overall goal is to study and facilitate the implementation of an effective pro-diversity intervention throughout academic medicine. To achieve this, a team from the University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW) will present the workshop to approximately half of your divisions and train up to 10 individuals at your site to deliver the workshop to the remaining divisions.

Summary

  • The BRIM Study is a randomized controlled trial, supported by NIH grant R35 GM122557
  • The objective is to determine whether training, using a “breaking the bias habit” approach is effective at reducing bias.
  • All faculty are surveyed at 3-time points: baseline, after Group 1 attends workshops (but before Group 2), and after Group 3 completes training.
  • BRIM ensures that all faculty in the DOM have unconscious bias training, using an evidence-based curriculum.
  • By participating in the BRIM Study, the DOM contributes to developing effective training programming designed to reduce implicit bias, using a data-driven approach.

Participating Institutions

  • University of Wisconsin – Madison
  • University of Illinois – Chicago
  • University of Rochester Medical Center
  • Boston University
  • Brown University
  • University of Virginia
  • Indiana University
  • University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
  • University of Utah
  • Northwestern UniversityUniversity of Florida
  • Johns Hopkins University
  • University of Pittsburgh Medical College
  • Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
  • University of Minnesota
  • University of Colorado – Denver
  • University of Washington
  • Washington University in St. Louis
  • Tufts University

Principal Investigator

Molly Carnes, MD, MS
Professor, Director of UW Center for Women’s Health Research, Department of Medicine, University of Wisconsin Medical School