Structural and social determinants of health are widely recognized as foundational drivers of health care disparities. However,  translating that understanding into everyday clinical teaching remains a persistent challenge. Educators and learners need the knowledge and skills to recognize and address how race and racial bias shape health outcomes as these issues arise in real-time, but time, limited expertise, and uncertainty in navigating these conversations effectively remain as barriers. 

This text directly addresses those barriers, designed specifically for educators who understand the urgency but are uncertain where to start teaching this material. It offers a comprehensive and practical examination of how systemic inequities and racial bias affect individual patients and perpetuate health disparities. Using the 5-Minute Moment for Racial Justice framework, the book provides structured, time-conscious approaches for introducing, facilitating, and navigating conversations about race and inequity with medical learners. It draws on historical context, data-driven evidence, and case examples across the patient life course to show how current clinical standards can perpetuate disparities while offering concrete steps toward more equitable practice. Teaching Health Equity in Clinical Decision-Making is an essential resource for health care professionals invested in building the skills to teach this material and advance equity through education.

Samantha Wang is an Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine at Stanford University, where she practices as a hospitalist and works closely with clinical learners across the continuum of medical education. She completed a fellowship in medical education, and teaches actively at Stanford School of Medicine. Dr. Wang serves as Director of Faculty Development for the Stanford Division of Hospital Medicine, designing and innovating programming to support the career development needs of the division. Her clinical and quality improvement work centers on communication.

She developed the 5-Minute Moment for Racial Justice (5MMRJ) framework, which has been published widely, disseminated internationally, and translated into multiple languages. Her scholarship focuses on curricular innovations and medical education, with particular emphasis on teaching health equity and addressing bias in clinical training, where she has presented at national forums. She has been recognized for her contributions to academic medicine, and diversity, equity, and inclusion through numerous awards, including the American Board of Internal Medicine Professionalism Article Prize.

Sonoo Thadaney Israni launched the PRESENCE for Health Equity Lab within PRESENCE, and the initiatives include work that began in 2017. These are the Stanford-HBMC (Historically Black Medical Colleges) Program (celebrating 10 years in 2026), the 5-Minute Moment for Racial Justice, PRESENCE 5 for Racial Justice, and more. Sonoo has co-chaired the National Academy of Medicine’s AI in Healthcare Working Group + co- shepherded their Technology across the Life course Group. She has co-created and co-hosted many teaching conferences at Stanford University, including and not limited to: Annual Stanford Medicine 25/Bedside Teaching Symposium (2017 onwards); Human & Artificial Intelligence for Diagnostics (2018); AI in Medicine: Inclusion & Equity (2018); AI in Healthcare: The Hope, The Hype, The Promise, The Peril (pre-launching NAM publication, she co-led), Human Intelligence and AI in Healthcare, et al. Sonoo serves on the AAMC Restorative Practice for Academic Medicine Committee, teaching curricula to address conflict in healthcare. After 25+years in Silicon Valley, now a Stanford intrapreneur for 18 years – launching centers and programs: In addition to the Presence Center, other initiatives she has created and led include the MSc. in Community Health and Prevention Research, Stanford WSDM (Women and Sex Differences in Medicine) Center, Diversity-First Gen Office, Stanford's Restorative Justice Pilot, and more. She teaches coursework in Leveraging Conflict for Constructive Change, Leadership Skills, and Mediation.
Sonoo serves on the boards of the Society of Bedside Medicine and SCIENTS.