Title: Responding to Microaggressions from Colleagues

Authors: Ayame Takahashi, Rachele Yadon, Akira McDaniels, Seamus Bhatt-Mackin, Zharia Crisp, Fatou Ndiaye

This video examines microaggressions within healthcare teams and provides practical strategies for clinicians, trainees, and staff to respond effectively when they occur. Microaggressions tend to be brief, everyday verbal, nonverbal, or environmental exchanges that communicate denigrating messages based on group membership; although individual incidents may appear subtle, their cumulative effects can contribute to psychological distress, exclusion, and the reinforcement of systemic inequities within medical environments. Through clinical vignettes, the video demonstrates how microaggressions can emerge in routine interactions between colleagues. The video introduces the Take ACTION framework as a flexible approach for responding to these encounters: Ask clarifying questions, Come from curiosity, Tell what you observed, explore the Impact, Own your thoughts and feelings, and identify Next steps. Viewers will learn ways to name problematic interactions, communicate their impact, advocate for themselves or others, and establish expectations for future interactions while preserving professional relationships. The video encourages individuals to adapt these strategies to their personal values and interpersonal style while emphasizing a broader institutional responsibility to move beyond silence and cultivate inclusive, respectful healthcare workplaces.