On the Pulse: A Curricular Sphere Update

Jan 4, 2021 | Racism and Bias

The Curricular Affairs Sphere aims to promote personal growth in antiracist knowledge and skills among course and clerkship directors. We developed this change target in partnership with students and faculty. 

The first steps included conducting focus groups and structured surveys of course and clerkship directors. This process helped us identify existing strengths and areas for growth as well as opportunities for and barriers to growth in antiracist knowledge and skills.

We then began to work systematically with course and clerkship directors to help meet immediate needs while also gathering data on barriers to growth. So far, efforts have included:

The Art and Science of Medicine (ASM)

  • Extensive anti-racist curricula exist, and will be expanded and used as a framework for approach to racism as the driver of racial inequities explored in other courses.
  • Anti-racist and anti-oppressive small group facilitation faculty developments

Brain and Behavior

  • Additional content: history of racism in psychiatry, racism as driver of racial inequities in serious mental illness, cerebrovascular accidents (incidence and outcomes) and dementia
  • Additional didactic and small group discussion on racism in psychiatry
  • Inclusion of content on summative exam
  • Faculty developments on anti-racism content
  • Faculty developments on anti-oppressive facilitation techniques

Muscoskeletal (MSK)

  • Meetings with course director and faculty underway, with additional content and faculty developments being planned

Internal Medicine Clerkship

  • Divisional grand rounds being developed
  • Meetings with clerkship director under way

Pediatric Clerkship

  • Anti-racist trainings initiated with all Pediatric Hospital Medicine faculty and fellows and Adolescent Medicine faculty and fellows including introduction to White Supremacy Culture and antiracist bedside skills.

For more information about the on-going focused work within the spheres, check out the Change Targets tracker and our latest release of the RBI January 2021 Action Update.

Change Targets
RBI Action Update

An Open Letter Response: SNMA x ISMMS Collaboration

Nov 25, 2020 | Racism and Bias

In response to the SNMA’s open letter, the Dean’s Office and the Department of Medical Education launched and continue to work on the following actions. Expand the sections below to view the actions that have been launched, initiated, and more. Beginning in January, we will provide new action updates on the Change Tracker.

Launched
Initiated
  • Mission Statement Revision Committee
  • Establishing academic and recruitment ties with HBCU’s
Upcoming
  • Incorporating Diversity and Inclusion into the annual performance reviews for Chairs
  • Incorporating required Diversity and Inclusion criteria into Appointments and Promotions
  • Incorporating required Diversity and Inclusion section to institutional CV format

“For me working towards the goal of being an anti-racist school has been the most challenging and most rewarding work I have done over more than 30 years in academic medicine. I am inspired by the courage and perseverance of our colleagues, students and staff of color. Their willingness to sacrifice so much, and place their faith in others, like me, who have historically let them down, is an incredible demonstration of their humanity, integrity, and dignity.”

David Muller, MD

Dean for Medical Education, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

Mistreatment
  • Individuals reporting mistreatment receive updates on outcomes of reports; there is an explicit zero tolerance policy for retaliation/retribution
  • Subcommittees formed to address
    • Incorporating students into adjudication of mistreatment reports
    • Enhancing messaging and outreach on mistreatment policy and processes
Ongoing
  • Revising the Med Ed Mission Statement

  • Recruitment of BIPOC faculty to leadership positions in Med Ed (ongoing)

  • Work with Faculty Council to recruit BIPOC faculty to major Med Ed committees (ongoing)

  • Strategic Leadership Collaborative (SLC) July retreat focused on training Med Ed leadership to be anti-racist. This work is ongoing and is addressed at every weekly SLC meeting.

  • SLC October retreat brought together SLC, RBI-GC, and SNMA leadership to work on SNMA action items

“The demands of working towards equity within Mount Sinai have been both extremely taxing yet overwhelmingly inspiring. Although I had not imagined being a part of implementing anti-racism initiatives as a facet of my medical school trajectory, it has significantly enhanced my experience by enriching my ability to think critically about tough issues, reinforcing my sense of purpose, and strengthening my capacity for problem solving. Some days are heavy, but I am sustained by the resilience of those who came before us, the fortitude of my colleagues, and the support that has been given to SNMA. While the road to truly achieving equity is long and sometimes tortuous, I am most proud of the collaborative spirit between leadership, faculty, staff, and students that have allowed the voices of Black students to be amplified and for our perspectives to be validated. It is SNMA’s hope that this continues to be the narrative, that we never allow this fire to be extinguished, and that Mount Sinai can position itself as a beacon of transformational change in addressing the systemic oppressions that exist within academic medicine.”

Taylor Harell

President, ISMMS Chapter, Student National Medial Association (SNMA)

For more SNMA Executive Board updates, check out this blog post.

Reflections from the SNMA Executive Board

Nov 25, 2020 | Racism and Bias, Uncategorized

This is what the SNMA Executive Board had to say after reflecting on the past few months following the open letter addressing anti-Blackness and racism at Mount Sinai and the broader medical community.

Jennifer Dias

This year we’ve been confronted by two pandemics that have warranted a hard pause and deep introspection. Personally, it’s made me reflect on my faith, failures, value to self and others, particularly as a Black body, and the power of community. While I struggle with my faith in the supernatural at times, this process has reaffirmed my faith in people. I recognize the work and voices of our ancestors, mentors and fellow classmates which have allowed us to harness our vulnerability and share our vision. This process has shone light on the values we must be willing to defend together: humanity, connection, truth and healing- which gives me hope.

Beselot Birhanu

SNMA was inspired by the events of this summer to reflect more on our own experiences and Mount Sinai’s institutional history. Coming to Sinai with a love of anthropology and history, I felt it was important to centralize and capture the long legacy of leadership and activism by Black students, staff, and faculty. This is not only to see how far we have come, but to also see how much farther we can go. As a result, we have partnered with the Arthur H. Aufses Archives to create a digital archive documenting the history of the Black community at the Icahn School of Medicine. Through a series of interviews with alumni, staff, and faculty, we are hoping to reconstruct the evolution of the community through pivotal moments, like the founding of our chapter and the creation of the Center for Multicultural and Community Affairs (CMCA), and all of the allies that made these milestones possible. We hope that this archive will be a living, breathing document that continues to evolve alongside the institution. I am also proud of our partnership with the Apothecary, Sinai’s student-run creative arts magazine, on a special issue dedicated to uplifting Black creative expression and providing a space for healing through art. In spite of all of the really important conversations I have had since the events of this past summer, I sometimes feel like words fail me, and I hope that this issue serves as a means of expression and community. Above all, I am really thankful for the dedication and friendship of our Board and of the student and faculty allies who made this time a little less lonely.

Taylor Harrell

The demands of working towards equity within Mount Sinai have been both extremely taxing yet overwhelmingly inspiring. Although I had not imagined being a part of implementing anti-racism initiatives as a facet of my medical school trajectory, it has significantly enhanced my experience by enriching my ability to think critically about tough issues, reinforcing my sense of purpose, and strengthening my capacity for problem solving. Some days are heavy, but I am sustained by the resilience of those who came before us, the fortitude of my colleagues, and the support that has been given to SNMA. While the road to truly achieving equity is long and sometimes tortuous, I am most proud of the collaborative spirit between leadership, faculty, staff, and students that have allowed the voices of Black students to be amplified and for our perspectives to be validated. It is SNMA’s hope that this continues to be the narrative, that we never allow this fire to be extinguished, and that Mount Sinai can position itself as a beacon of transformational change in addressing the systemic oppressions that exist within academic medicine.

Sewit Bereket, Jeffrey Okewunmi, and Makda Getachew Zewde

Overall, we have been heartened to see such an enthusiastic and supportive response from leadership throughout the hospital system on ways to bolster an anti-racist community at Mount Sinai. Regarding efforts to improve the medical student curriculum, we’ve begun to make progress on actualizing initiatives related to increasing diversity throughout our learning spheres. Specifically in the areas of student clinical encounters, basic science lectures, and research experiences, we look forward to seeing these efforts move forward. As trainees, it has been both rewarding and empowering to be able to contribute to the design of a curriculum that is inclusive, diverse, and representative of the community in which we live and learn. While we feel that it is our obligation to continue to push for these improvements, we acknowledge the disproportionate burden that we as Black students bear and we eagerly look forward to the day where future underrepresented students are relieved of this kind of work. Although the work at times was painful, the experience on this board has produced strong bonds of friendship, invigorated a drive for equity, and helped develop leadership and communication skills that will undoubtedly serve us, and our patients, in the future.

Last thought from Jeffrey Okewunmi:

Black women have been stunting on all the Black men who consistently fail to show up.

If you are interested in learning about the actions that the Dean’s Office and Medical Education have taken since the SNMA open letter addressing anti-blackness and racism at Mount Sinai and the broader medical community, check out this blog post.

Your Guide through RBI

Your Guide through RBI

Aug 13, 2019 | Racism and Bias

We heard you loud and clear: you needed help navigating all of the Racism and Bias Initiative’s offerings. Due to the resounding feedback and requests from students, faculty, and staff, we are proud to introduce an infographic to help you navigate your way through the year’s programming. We hope that you use it as a quick reference to find out more about RBI and how you can get personally involved with the initiative. Here’s what you can expect to see:

Guiding Coalition

A diverse guiding coalition of faculty, staff, leadership, and students who represent all functional areas of the school (admissions, student resources, clinical, students, curricular affairs, and student affairs), oversee the six change targets, and make decisions about where energy and resources should be focused. Find out more about the Guiding Coalition and the Change Targets

Chats for Change

A series of monthly activities that spark conversations centered on racism and bias. Do you have a story to tell? How do you describe your intersecting identities? What’s happening in the news? Is anyone else noticing? Are we evolutionarily doomed to be racist? Afraid of being found out? Those are just a few of the questions we are attempting to answer. Check out the full schedule and RSVP today.

Team Learning Labs

A quarterly team-based learning opportunity for departments or units at ISMMS to develop individual and team knowledge of key concepts related to bias and racism, and to work as a team to apply tools and practices to day-to-day job functions.  Some of the key concepts include: working from a systems perspective, building a mindset of inclusion, moving from awareness to action (unconscious bias), bringing the bystander forward, engaging in transformative dialogue about race and racism. Find out more information.

Personal Learning Labs

Games, tools and resources to enhance your self-awareness as it relates to bias, race, racism and privilege. Have a few minutes to play Killing Me Softly, a game demonstrating how it feels to suffer microaggressions and acculturative stress day after day?  Check out the full list.

In the Know

A monthly lunch and learn session for those interested in learning about RBI. Become knowledgeable about what is changing and provide feedback. Check out the Chats for Change schedule and RSVP today.

Storytelling for Racial Justice

This project asks us to consider what we lose when stories of and by diverse groups are concealed or lost, and what we gain as a community when we listen to and learn from the multitude of stories available for our consideration. We invite you to share your story anonymously by answering a few questions. Share your story today.

Need help navigating the 2019 RBI program? Download this infographic.

An Update on Spheres • Quarter Two Highlights

An Update on Spheres • Quarter Two Highlights

Aug 2, 2019 | Racism and Bias

Over the past few months, the RBI Spheres have made some progress with their Change Targets and Objectives. Here are the highlights.

Admissions Sphere

The Admissions Sphere held three 90-minute MD Admissions Committee Orientations at the start of the 2019-20 Admissions cycle. Topics addressed included:

  • Unconscious Bias
  • Bias Traps in Admissions
  • The Equity Framework in Admissions and Student Support
  • Diversity as the Driver of Excellence in Institutions
  • National and Local Demographic Data in Medical School

The MD Admissions Committee continues to track and document instances of discussions that highlight potential biases and ones in which course corrections are addressed and a productive educational journey ensues. This real-life case based approach has been successful in promoting continual committee member education and development. Our hope is to widen this approach to other admissions committees across the school.

What Changes Will You See on the Change Target Tracker?
  • The Training, Training Development, and Implement and Track change targets are now 100 percent complete.
  • The Course Correct change target is now 40 percent complete.

 

Clinical Sphere

We have met with the following groups in Pediatric Medicine:

  • Diversity Council
  • Social Work (for Pediatrics and OB/GYN)
  • Chair and Vice Chairs
  • Clinical Fellows
  • Housestaff
  • Patient Reps
  • Clinic Managers
  • Chief Residents
  • Nursing (Scheduled to meet soon)

We’ve created flyers and pocket cards with information about RBI and the Compliance Hotline. These are being distributed and posted in clinical sites. Through our efforts, departmental and hospital leadership is now engaged in this process and are beginning to address a specific area of concern: segregated care. Our plans moving forward include:

  • Holding meetings with the Nursing department
  • Scheduling training with interested groups (Unconscious Bias training, Iceberg sessions, etc.)
  • Working closely with the patient representatives to explore reports of racism and bias that are already in their database
What Changes Will You See on the Change Target Tracker?
  • The Recruit and Inform, and Communications Plan change targets are now 100 percent complete.
  • The Connect Reports change target is now 50 percent complete.
Curricular Affairs Sphere

The Curricular Affairs sphere solicited and received feedback from sphere members, the Office of Curricular Support staff, and students. The sphere leads also recruited a medical librarian to help review best practices in the areas of anti-racist knowledge, skills, and personal awareness.

The needs and strength assessment of course and clerkship directors will be scheduled for November 2019 following the busy accreditation preparation period. In the next six months, the sphere will use gathered data to build the curricular map and move toward curriculum development. The sphere will also welcome additional members to join the core sphere leads following the accreditation process. 

What Changes Will You See on the Change Target Tracker?
  • The Feedback change target is now 100 percent complete.
  • The Best Practices change target is now 50% complete.
  • The Strength and Needs Assessment, Curricular Map, and Curricular Development change targets have goal date extensions to November 2019, February 2020, and June 2020, respectively.
Student Affairs Sphere

Faculty Advisors are now on board and we are working to incorporate Appreciative Advising in our advising practices. We are also actively engaged in improving communication with students, revamping incident reporting, and revising our mission statement.

 

What Changes Will You See on the Change Target Tracker?
  • The Developing Community change target is now 75 percent complete.
  • The Practice Model is now 50 percent complete.
Student Resources Sphere

The Student Resources Sphere has made strong progress to date. So far, we have:

  • Connected with all stakeholders
  • Created a process to support and engage with partners outside of the Medical Education and Enrollment Services environment
  • Identified areas for impact

What has stalled further progress is the inability to impact the work flow that is required by our partners to achieve our change targets. We have begun to make improvements in the areas within our locus of control and believe that these changes will impact students entering in the 2019 academic year.

We have also had some attrition on the Sphere and it’s not clear whether we should reconstitute the membership, that is an ongoing discussion at our meetings. Finally we are in the process of identifying additional change targets that are within those areas that we are accountable and responsible for the work.

What Changes Will You See on the Change Target Tracker?
  • The Policy Audit and Communication change targets are now 25 percent complete.
Student Sphere

Three new students joined the sphere. The student sphere will continue to provide feedback and support to the other RBI spheres.

What Changes Will You See on the Change Target Tracker?

There are no updates to report.

If you are a student and would like more information, contact the Student Sphere.