On the Pulse: June Action Update

The Admissions Sphere is planning for the new Admissions Committee members to build upon the wins of previous admissions cycles after developing the 2022-2023 training and setting the agenda and toolkit for the Faculty Development Process. Sphere members have finalized the committee demographics survey and will be administering it in July.

The Curriculum Clinic Series, sponsored by the Center for Antiracism in Practice (CAP), ended a second full cycle, with 50+ course and clerkship directors having participated in three workshops. Feedback for the most recent sessions have been increasingly positive, and logistical planning for the upcoming Fall series is underway.

The Curricular Affairs Sphere will share a new update in upcoming months.

The Student Affairs Sphere will share a new update in upcoming months.

The Student Resources Sphere has made steady progress toward achieving its change targets. They have begun to compile learning and professional development resources. In doing so, the sphere will serve as a conduit in connecting staff to resources that cultivate an environment of anti-racism across the Department. Sphere members met with ODI and plans to connect with CAP and Admissions to continue gathering resources. In the process of determining a database/accessible space to catalog all resources.

This month the Student Sphere began orientation planning for RBI programming for the class of 2026. They have analyzed data from the spring student group retreat and are planning the programming for the fall student group retreat. The EHHOP DEIA Subcommittee Chair has began to develop curriculum for an anti-racist clinical skills training for senior clinicians at EHHOP. Lastly, sphere members have begun research on best practices for communication and marketing strategies on how to engage students in anti-racist work.

The Medical School-Wide Sphere accomplished several major progress checkpoints on our change targets. In May, we conducted the first Unity in Action (UiA) town hall which received an overwhelming amount of support that the town hall promoted dialogue related to racism and bias. We continue to make strides toward our vision to become a health system and health professions school with the most diverse workforce, providing health care and education that is free of racism and bias. As we consider and prepare the fall town hall, we will continue to ensure that we are striving towards our vision. Chats for Change is expanding, we’re developing a structure to support hospital-based dialogue. The sphere has decided to shift the silo-busting target to support a trauma-informed, restorative justice-focused response strategy with a dedicated team who can support students who experience incidents of racism and bias in the educational environment. Regarding the Climate Survey, planning is underway for focus groups to discuss the survey results. Lastly, we are brainstorming how to conduct an equity-review of student and staff department policies, using a literature review as the foundation.