Racism and Bias Initiative (RBI) x Center for Anti-Racism in Practice (CAP) Fellowship for Icahn School of Medicine Students

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

  • Unit: Medical Education Administration, Department of Medical Education

  • Project supervisors: Colleen Hayden, EdD, Director of Quality, Compliance, & Accreditation and Leona Hess, PhD, Senior Director of Strategy and Equity Education Programs

  • 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

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.

Meet the RBI x CAP Fellows

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 (CAP). Fellows will serve as an invaluable capacity-building resource for school and institution-wide anti-racism initiatives.

 

Meet the Fellows

Carina Seah

MD/PhD Candidate, Fourth-year Student
Project: Mitigating biological essentialism in teaching of race vs ancestry concepts in medical/graduate education

What are you looking forward to most about your project?

“I’m most looking forward to impacting how doctors and researchers are trained to generate new knowledge–asked, created, and communicated through an anti-racist, community-centered, and equity-first lens.“

If you could ask for advice from any historical figure, past or present, who would it be and why? 

“Marie Curie, for her barrier-breaking science, commitment to equitable access of her discoveries, and her humility. I’d ask her for her thoughts on overcoming systems of power and oppression without succumbing to them.”

Daniella Nevid

MD Candidate, Second-year Student

Project: RBI Student Sphere

What are you looking forward to most about your project?

“I am most looking forward to working alongside my co-fellows to create new initiatives and programming that will activate the student body and sow both an excitement and an imperative among students to participate in antiracist work during their time at Sinai.”

 

If you could ask for advice from any historical figure, past or present, who would it be and why? 

“I would ask Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel his advice because as a civil rights activist, I believe he would provide unique insight to help advance our work in RBI, and, as a philosopher, I imagine he would have a distinctly inspirational way of delivering it.”

Don Nguyen

MD/PhD Candidate, Sixth-year Student

Project: Anti-Oppressive Curriculum Revamp

What are you looking forward to most about your project?

“I am very excited to help revamp the medical school curriculum and hopefully make a positive impact on education of Anti-oppression for future generations of Mount Sinai medical students.”

If you could ask for advice from any historical figure, past or present, who would it be and why? 

“I would seek advice from Audre Lorde and ask her how she balanced her commitment to activism with her own wellbeing and personal life.”

Edward Sarfo

MD Candidate, Second-year Student

Project: Situational Judgment Tests

What are you looking forward to most about your project?

“I am excited to learn and do my part in critically examining how this new AAMC PREview test would be utilized to not further aggravate racism and bias, and also to fulfill Sinai’s anti-racist mission. Despite the increasing number of methods for evaluating medical school applicants, it is essential that these methods are scrutinized through an equity lens.”

If you could ask for advice from any historical figure, past or present, who would it be and why? 

“I choose Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana’s first president who liberated the country from British colonial rule. After Ghana’s independence, he had a vision for an African continent that was fully independent, united, and strong. Until his untimely death, he worked to restore the dignity that was eroded from Africans as a result of colonialism and the slave trade. In the same way that the black and white keys of a piano work together to create harmony, Dr. Nkrumah fought for equality and a world without racism. This world could use some of Dr. Nkrumah’s advice.”

Jerrel Catlett

MD/PhD Candidate, Third-year Student

Project: Situational Judgment Tests

What are you looking forward to most about your project?

“I’m looking forward to having the opportunity to create new paradigms for evaluating prospective students that gives greater weight to their commitment to dismantling racism and bias in the medical field.”

If you could ask for advice from any historical figure, past or present, who would it be and why? 

“I would want to have a conversation with the prolific restaurateur and humanitarian José Andrés to ask for advice on how to leverage my disparate passions for medical research and culinary pursuits to improve the lives of communities of color within New York City.”

Marcia Lange

MD/PhD Candidate, Fourth-year Student

Project: Anti-Oppressive Curriculum Revamp

What are you looking forward to most about your project?

“I am looking forward to improving our medical curriculum and that of other schools so that we can as a profession learn how to better serve our patients, peers, and communities in a healthcare environment that takes into account the impact of power, inequality, and oppression on health and wellbeing.”

If you could ask for advice from any historical figure, past or present, who would it be and why? 

“If I could ask for advice from any historical figure, past or present, it would likely be Dr Uche Blackstock, one of my idols! She is a trailblazer in the diversity, inclusion, and racial equity sphere in healthcare and I would love to get advice on what she believes are the highest priorities in terms of creating a workplace and learning environment free of bias and racism.”

Nasseef Quasim

MD Candidate, Second-year Student

Project: RBI Student Sphere

 

What are you looking forward to most about your project?

I am most excited to learn more about anti racist work and how to put into action in a way that many students want to engage with.”

 

If you could ask for advice from any historical figure, past or present, who would it be and why? 

“I would ask for advice from Matthieu Ricard. He’s been called the happiest person in the world, yet says he knows those that are even happier. Wouldn’t be bad to learn more about simple joy from him and others.”

Paloma Orozco Scott

MD Candidate, Fourth-year Student

Project: Equity Policy Audit

What are you looking forward to most about your project?

“I’m excited to apply all I’ve learned from RBI, Dr. Hess, Dr. Palermo, Dr. Leisman, Dr. Meah, Dr. Soriano, and the many other mentors I’ve had at Sinai towards analyzing Sinai medical education policy’s impact on equity, justice, and anti-racism. As a fourth year, this feels like a culminating moment where my experiences will help me leave a legacy of anti-racist and improved policies/processes for the students who come next.”

 

If you could ask for advice from any historical figure, past or present, who would it be and why? 

“I would ask for advice from my maternal Grandmother, Antonia Ramirez. She developed Alzheimer’s before I could ask her this question, but I would ask how despite the massive adversities in her life she remained a positive person who exuded love of life and family?”

Rachel Kasdin

MD Candidate, First-year Student

Project: ART in MedEd

What are you looking forward to most about your project?

“One of my top priorities in choosing a medical school was to ensure that my education would be defined by a commitment to scientific rigor and an institutional willingness to grapple with the historical and contemporary systems of oppression that shape medical education and medical care. While the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai stands out amongst its peers in its dedication to diversity and dismantling racism, its mission to do so remains urgent, challenging, and necessary. I am most looking forward to being a member of the Anti-Racist Transformation in Medical Education Team because of the platform it will give me to learn from ISMMS’s existing anti-racist practices, push the institution further towards its vision and, most importantly, share what we have learned thus far with peer institutions in the United States and Canada.”

 

If you could ask for advice from any historical figure, past or present, who would it be and why? 

“Although perhaps not a historical figure, my paternal grandma is who comes to mind first. As I became an adult, she developed dementia and lost her ability to speak before passing away in 2019. I wish I could go back in time to when she was well enough to give me advice, or that she could give my adult-self advice. She directed a nursery school for years and was a central pillar in the communities she was a part of at this school, at her synagogue, among her friends, and in my extended family. She inhabited these roles, however, with a quiet confidence and fierce love/loyalty for those who she thought might need it most or who she noticed were pushed away by others. I often find myself pausing to wonder what wisdom she would share with me now if she could.”

Tracy Okine

MD/PhD Candidate, Second-year Student

Project: RBI Student Sphere

 

What are you looking forward to most about your project?

“I am looking forward to many things including working with the faculty involved, serving the student sphere, and building on my skills in this area through mentorship while sharing my perspective via initiatives.”

 

If you could ask for advice from any historical figure, past or present, who would it be and why? 

“This a tough one. For advice specifically, I think Dr. Maya Angelou or Dr. Santiago Ramon Y Cajal or my great grandmother!”

Wayland Chiu

MD Candidate, First-year Student

Project: ART in MedEd

What are you looking forward to most about your project?

“What I am looking forward to most about being part of the Anti-Racist Transformation in Medical Education project is helping to make a difference in the way medical institutions engage medical students to think critically about race from a structural and personal level, which I believe will ultimately elevate patient care by training students to become culturally competent physicians.”

 

If you could ask for advice from any historical figure, past or present, who would it be and why? 

“If I could ask for advice from any historical figure, it would have to be from Zhuge Liang (also called Kong Ming) who is arguably the most brilliant mind in all of Chinese history.  He is mostly known for being a legendary diplomat, advisor, and battle tactician during the Three Kingdoms period and was later immortalized in the Chinese novel/epic “Romance of the Three Kingdoms,” which is one of the four great Chinese literary works.  In addition to his political and military roles, Zhuge Liang was also an accomplished inventor, author, and philosopher with experience and expertise spanning a wide range of subjects.  When faced with seemingly impossible challenges, he thoroughly analyzed the resources and circumstances around him to create elegant solutions.  If I were to ever require advice, I would rely on his resourcefulness and breadth of knowledge to solve whatever problem I was facing.”

The RBI x CAP Fellowship could not be possible without the leadership of Medical Education, Racism & Bias Initiative (RBI), the Center for Antiracism in Practice (CAP), our project administrators across the School, and the advocacy and dedication of our students. The Fellowship ensures that students who participate in anti-racism efforts have an opportunity to be compensated for their work, and to be directly mentored by antiracism thought leaders at Icahn Mount Sinai.

Please join us in congratulating and welcoming our second cohort of Fellows as they commence their RBI x CAP Fellowship and take on a vital role at our school. If you have any questions about the RBI x CAP Fellowship, please email jay.johnson@mssm.edu. You can learn additional details about this year’s fellowship projects here.