Racism and Bias Initiative (RBI) x Center for Anti-Racism in Practice (CAP) Fellowship for Icahn School of Medicine Students
Our mission is to support and advance the lifelong pursuit of anti-racism, equity, and racial justice as the organizing principles of medical education at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (ISMMS).
RBI x CAP Fellows will work closely with ISMMS leaders across all functional areas of the school of medicine and report directly to the co-Directors of the Center for Anti-Racism in Practice. Fellows will serve as an invaluable capacity-building resource for school and institution-wide anti-racism initiatives.
Applications Open: Tuesday, September 5 at 2 pm
Applications Close: Tuesday, September 19 at 11:59 pm
As a fellow, here’s what you’ll do:
While any of these activities may result in a scholarly product,
the primary purpose of RBI x CAP Fellows is to expand the workforce
focused on anti-racism work for the Icahn School of Medicine
at Mount Sinai.
Fellow projects for the 2023-2024 cycle are:
Building a Mechanism to Track Equity in Policies
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Unit: Medical Education Administration, Department of Medical Education
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Project supervisors: Colleen Hayden, EdD, Director of Quality, Compliance, & Accreditation and Leona Hess, PhD, Senior Director of Strategy and Equity Education Programs
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Project Description: As part of the Racism and Bias Initiative’s guiding coalition change targets, a protocol was developed and implemented to conduct an equity audit on fifteen student facing policies. The next phase of the audit is to develop a mechanism to track relevant data points to determine the extent to which selected policies are implemented and/or enforced equitably. The fellow will collaborate with Student Affairs and Curricular Affairs to design and implement a new mechanism.
Coordinating Anti-Racist Strategies Across Student Groups
- Unit: Office for Diversity & Inclusion
- Project Description: As part of the Racism and Bias Initiative’s guiding coalition change targets, the goal is to provide a space for student group members to dialogue, dream, and design strategies for how to incorporate anti-racism into their programming and efforts. This project will involve the co-planning and project management of 3 annual anti-racist retreats for student groups, in coordination with the Office for Diversity and Inclusion/Center for Multicultural and Community Affairs, the Racism and Bias Initiatives of the medical and graduate schools, the Student Council URiSM Representatives, and other stakeholders as needed. The fellow will schedule and manage meetings with the planning team; maintain detailed notes; organize retreat materials; promote and market the retreats; co-facilitate the retreats; assess feedback; and report back themes and critical findings to the guiding coalition.
- Project Supervisor: Ashley Michelle Fowler, MEd, Administrative Program Manager
Establishing a Sustainable Connection between Undergraduate Pre-Health Student Affinity Groups and the ISMMS
- Unit: Admissions, Department of Medical Education
- Project Description: This project aims to create a lasting and beneficial relationship between undergraduate pre-health student affinity groups and the Icahn School of Medicine. The fellow will build relationships, establish a mentorship program, organize campus visits and collaborative events, facilitate connections to enrich research and clinical experiences, conduct professional development workshops, and develop a long-term sustainability plan. Through this project, the goal is to support undergraduate students from historically excluded groups interested in pursuing medical careers, promote diversity in healthcare, and create a nurturing environment that fosters success.
- Project Supervisor: Jessica Maysonet
Sustaining a Community of Practice Among Medical students Across the Country and Canada
- Unit: Anti-Racist Transformation in Medical Education (ART in Med Ed)
- Project Description: ART in Med Ed is a three-year Josiah Macy, Jr. Foundation grant-funded project aimed at implementing and adapting Icahn School of Medicine and Mount Sinai’s (ISMMS) change-management strategy with 11 partner medical schools in the United States and Canada. The fellow will design and implement opportunities to sustain a community of practice among students, share project wins and developments with partnering medical schools, and promote and enhance engagement during the Challenging Norms: Uplifting Anti-Racist Work to Transform the Landscape of Medical Education conference. This is a great opportunity if you are interested in medical education, administrative leadership, teaching, and/or gaining skills related to organizational change management.
- Project Supervisors: Leona Hess, PhD, Senior Director of Strategy and Equity Education Programs; Chloe Martin, MSW, Project Manager; David Muller, MD, Dean for Medical Education
Newly selected fellows will work in collaboration with existing Fellows working on this effort.
Designing the Advocacy, Social Justice, and Anti-oppression Thread in the Curriculum Redesign
- Unit: Curricular Affairs and Center for Anti-racism in Practice
- Project Description: In November 2021, the Office of Curricular Affairs began the process of curriculum redesign for the MD program. As part of the new curriculum design there is an Advocacy, Social Justice, and Anti-Oppression (ASA) thread that is designed to equip all students with the knowledge and skills they need to address social determinants of health and promote health equity for all patients with a particular focus on the impact of racism as a social determinant of health. It prepares future physicians to be effective advocates for their patients and to work towards a more equitable health system. The fellow will join the ASA workgroup and partner with the instructional designer consultant to develop an ASA curricular map and relevant learning activities.
- Project Supervisor: Leona Hess, PhD, Senior Director of Strategy and Equity Education Programs and Consultant
Developing an Equity-centered Approach Graduation Awards Nomination and Selection Process
- Unit: Student Affairs, Department of Medical Education
- Project Description: In Graduation and departmental awards are a long-held tradition in medical schools and have real implications in the academic careers of medical students. This project seeks to identity equity-centered practices in nominating and selecting awardees to inform the development of a framework that can be applied to our medical school’s process. The fellow will review the literature on equity-centered practices, evaluate ISMMS current award selection process with an equity lens, develop an equity-centered framework and protocol that will be applied to the 2024 graduation wards process, conduct a post-award selection evaluation and amend protocol and develop recommendation, if necessary.
- Project Supervisors: Alicia Hurtado, MD and Ann-Gel Palermo, DrPH
RBI Student Sphere
- Unit: Department of Medical Education, Racism & Bias Initiative
- Project Description:
- As part of the Racism and Bias Initiative’s (RBI) change management plan, our commitment is to establish a diverse guiding coalition of faculty, staff, leadership, and students to determine the change targets, identify options for implementation, make decisions about where energy and resources should be focused, and determine how to hold people accountable, and manage resistance in the medical school and beyond. The guiding coalition is made up of seven spheres or functional areas: Admissions, Curricular Affairs, Student Affairs, Clinical, Resources, Medical School-Wide and Student. The Student Sphere lead will participate in Guiding Coalition planning meetings and processes, and will be responsible for the development, implementation, and monitoring of the change Targets in the student Sphere. The Lead will also serve as liaison for student involvement in Chats for Change, Orientation and other RBI Sphere work.
- Project Supervisor: Leona Hess, PhD
Propose Your Own Project
This year we are offering an opportunity for a fellow to propose and execute an innovative project of their own. In the application you will have the opportunity to submit a potential project name, supervisors, description, outcomes/deliverables, and responsibilities. We are looking for a project that is:
- Aligned with our mission to nurture a visionary community of students, staff, faculty and leaders who are committed to advancing exceptional clinical care and science that is free of racism and oppression in all its forms;
- Designed to address a gap or concern related to our learning environment;
- Achievable in 8 months; and
- Innovative and doesn’t duplicate or complete with the current twenty-four change targets
Fellows will:
- be closely mentored by Med Ed leadership and CAP
- work with or be a liaison to other relevant medical school administrators, students, and partners including but not limited to the Office for Diversity & Inclusion and the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences
- be part of a Fellows community of practice and mutual support
- learn anti-racist and anti-oppressive teaching, facilitation, and reflection practices
- learn leadership, communication, and conflict resolution skills
- have opportunities to develop projects into scholarly products
- develop the capacity to design and facilitate equity programming beyond medical school, in residency training and their professional careers
- when applicable, manage a modest programming budget and submit required documentation to Med Ed administration
- receive a stipend of $5,000 for every year that they serve as a fellow
Fellow Requirements:
- Approximately 20 hours/month for the eight-month commitment.
- Fellows may apply to renew their commitment in subsequent years, up to their full tenure at ISMMS.
- Student on Scholarly Year may not apply for a RBI x CAP Fellowship
- Participate in two training/program planning lunches each semester that will bring together all Fellows.
- Complete one scheduled check-in per semester with the Dean for Medical Education.
- Fellows will present their work to the RBI Guiding Coalition, Senior Leadership Committee, and other key stakeholders in a “re-CAP” presentation at the close of the Fellowship
- Up to eight fellows will be selected to participate.
Application Process
Candidates will be required to submit their CV and answer several questions in a total of 500 words or less.
Submitted applications will be reviewed and scored by a selection committee composed of members of the Racism and Bias Initiative Guiding Coalition (Medical Education faculty, staff, leaders, and students). Each reviewer will consider your alignment with the School’s vision and values, and your track record of contributions/leadership in addressing racism and bias.
Submit all applications by Tuesday, September 19 at 11:59 pm EST.
