Use of Patient Identifiers in the UWSOM Foundations Curriculum
A workgroup was initiated in 2017 to examine how we use identifiers in the UWSOM
curriculum. Input was solicited from a very large pool of the UWSOM family. A few of the best
practice guidelines are summarized below and refer to discussions in the foundations blocks in our short, written cases. The use of identifiers is challenging because they can promote existing biases against patient populations and individuals, but can also inform clinical reasoning based on health disparities and inform distribution of resources to where they will have the greatest impact. Best practices related to patient identifiers are evolving and we welcome your input.Because of the evolving nature of identifier use, you may encounter variations across clinical settings where you will train. It also would not be possible to generate such guidelines that incorporate all the richness of humanity and we acknowledge this reality and approach this task with humility. A session has been built into the first block to discuss identifiers after you will have had some experience with the curriculum.