“Taking Off the Rose‐Colored Glasses”

How Justice‐Centered Science Curricula Engages Prehealth Undergraduates' in Critical Consciousness

Bibliographic Data

ID21392773
AuthorsSabah K Elias (Department of Neurobiology, Physiology, and Behavior University of California Davis California USA), Francisca Dogbe (Department of Neurobiology, Physiology, and Behavior University of California Davis California USA), Ashley R Acosta‐Parra (Department of Neurobiology, Physiology, and Behavior University of California Davis California USA), Arsema Alemayehu (Department of Neurobiology, Physiology, and Behavior University of California Davis California USA), Faizah Asif (Department of Neurobiology, Physiology, and Behavior University of California Davis California USA), Yajing Feng (0009-0009-9307-1898, Department of Neurobiology, Physiology, and Behavior University of California Davis California USA), Jacob Francisco Gomez (Department of Neurobiology, Physiology, and Behavior University of California Davis California USA), Isabella Morimoto (Department of Neurobiology, Physiology, and Behavior University of California Davis California USA), Ofelia Preciado (Department of Neurobiology, Physiology, and Behavior University of California Davis California USA), Dathan Tran (Department of Neurobiology, Physiology, and Behavior University of California Davis California USA), Ross Wohlgemuth (0000-0002-1841-2148, Department of Athletic Training & Clinical Nutrition University of Kentucky Lexington Kentucky USA), Lucas R Smith (0000-0002-7610-4231, Department of Neurobiology, Physiology, and Behavior University of California Davis California USA), Eric J Crossen (Department of Pediatrics, Davis School of Medicine University of California Sacramento California USA), Brie Tripp (0000-0003-0491-3491, Department of Neurobiology, Physiology, and Behavior University of California Davis California USA, corresponding author)
Year2026
Publication date2026-04-24
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueScience Education (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0036-8326 • E-ISSN: 1098-237X
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1002/sce.70074
OpenAlexW7155490542
LanguageEN
References cited66

Health disparities rooted in systemic oppression and perpetuated by implicit bias among medical professionals remain pervasive across North America. These inequities are often sustained by providers' limited awareness of social realities that shape the lives of people from marginalized communities. Raising future healthcare practitioners' critical consciousness—the ability to recognize oppressive structures that cause disparities (critical reflection), feeling motivated to challenge them (critical self‐efficacy), and taking action to change these circumstances (critical action)—holds promise in addressing healthcare injustice. In this study, undergraduate researchers with lived experience of systemic oppression developed case studies with input from local community partners. These cases were implemented in an upper‐division human physiology course that challenged pre‐health students to analyze the intersection of physiology, health disparities, and advocacy. Through interviews, findings revealed that students were encouraged to critically reflect and felt confident to act against injustice along a critical consciousness continuum, with the majority describing structural oppression as the root cause of health disparities and motivation to change these circumstances. This attests to the power of justice‐centered curricula to foster a more just future in medicine and the potential to cultivate more critically conscious healthcare practitioners

Consciousness · Consciousness raising · Critical consciousness · Curriculum · Feeling · Health care · Health equity · Injustice · Oppression · Critical Race Theory in Education · Cultural Competency in Health Care · Feminist Theory and Gender Studies

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