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Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

At URMC Med-Peds, we are a family. Our commitment to diversity reflects the belief that all the individuals making up the Med-Peds Program including residents, faculty, and staff are unique, exceptional and truly valued. All of these individuals create an inclusive culture and foster one another’s success and the success of the program. We believe that our differences are our strengths. We recognize that there is no gold standard sex, race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, culture, language or body. We know that diverse and inclusive teams with high trust are twice as accurate, creative, and productive as non-diverse and non-inclusive teams. To that end, we have embarked on a journey of action towards achieving “ever better” (Meliora) together.  Our program provides an inclusive, diverse, supportive and equitable learning environment that values all individuals through our equity curriculum and actions.  Our goal is that our residents and faculty reflect the diverse population we serve. 

Commitment

  • Provide education about bias in medicine. All members of our program are required to take implicit bias and discriminatory abuses (formally known as microaggressions) training
  • Empower our trainees and staff to be active bystanders. Members of our program receive training on how to respond to witnessed abuses, racism, and/or intolerant language or behavior and are encouraged to report the instances
  • Promote a psychologically safe and supportive culture and environment. Our program has a zero tolerance for discriminatory offenses by patients, colleagues and or supervisors
  • Continued self-improvement. Our program will regularly assess healthcare disparities in our own continuity clinic and utilize outcome metrics to improve the quality of healthcare we deliver  

Culture and Support

  • Listen and learn.  We hold regular training for residents, faculty and staff on the roots and outcomes of discrimination, implicit bias, discriminatory abuses (microaggressions), bystander/ally training, health care disparities and mentoring across differences. 
  • Work jointly with colleagues across departments. We collaborate with other departments and organizations to prevent working in silo. 
  • Create and sustain supportive and safe spaces. The Association of Minority Residents and Fellows (AMRF) originated from within the Med-Peds residency program in 2014.  We continue to support and facilitate monthly meetings for this organization and we actively invest in each and every trainee’s success.
  • Hold ourselves and each other accountable.  Responding as a bystander to inequity is a tenet of professionalism for us.  We train you on how to report, how to intervene, and how to resolve instances of inequity.  We train you to have a growth mindset on your own anti-racism journey.
  • Commitment to mentorship. We ensure that each resident has support and mentorship throughout residency. The relationships that develop are designed to foster personal and professional growth and wellness.
     

Curriculum

  • Innovative material. The curriculum has been revamped to include education on racism, implicit bias, trauma-informed care, gender affirming care, care for the LGBTQIA+ community, care for patients with disabilities, and lifestyle medicine in resource poor settings.
  • Integration into existing material. In addition to stand alone talks on these topics, this curriculum integrates these topics into the current standard curriculum to further emphasize how integral these parts are to all aspects of medical care and not “other” topics.
  • Comprehensive and widespread efforts. These efforts are ongoing in the ambulatory setting, inpatient setting and in quality improvement education.

Recruitment

  • Commitment to diversity.  We are committed to recruiting a diverse workforce that reflects the population we serve.
  • Recruitment efforts. We practice holistic reviews of applicants, standardized interviewing and faculty education in bias surrounding admissions processes.
  • Collaboration with and creation of pipelines. We work with various programs to ensure that people have equal access within Med-Peds to rotations, mentorship and residency application advocacy.

 

Equity & Anti-Racism Action PlanAbout URMC: Anti-Racism Action Plan

The School of Medicine and Dentistry, has partnered with the University's Office of Equity and Inclusion to develop a comprehensive Medical Center anti-racism plan. The plan includes specific recommendations from anti-racism advocacy groups and allies, committing to strategies and actions that strengthen institutional diversity, identifying leaders, measuring progress and providing transparency through regular reporting.

Learn More About the Plan

white coats for black lives

Adrienne L. Morgan, Ph.D.
Sr. Associate Dean for Equity and Inclusion, School of Medicine and Dentistry
Associate VP, Office of Equity and Inclusion
Pronouns: She, Her, Hers.

Organizations Promoting Diversity at URMC

University of Rochester Office of Equity and Inclusion (OEI)

Medical Center Office of Equity and Inclusion (OEI)

Association of Minority Residents and Fellows (AMRF)

Latino Medical Student Association

Spectrum (affinity group for LGBTQIA+ students)

White Coats for Black Lives (WC4BL)

Rochester Medical Accessibility Coalition (RMAC)

Asian-Pacific Medical Students Association (APAMSA)

American Medical Women’s Association (AWMA)

Student National Medical Association (SNMA)

Links and Resources

University of Rochester Office of Equity and Inclusion (OEI)

Medical Center Office of Equity and Inclusion (OEI)

LGBTQ+ at Rochester

Center for Advocacy, Community Health, Education and Diversity (CACHED)

Deaf Professional Services

Links to Professional Organizations

Examples of Resident Work with a DEI Focus

Bridge Mentorship Hub

Irene Martinez, MD (MP R2), Clare Park, DO (MP graduate 2019, Assistant Professor of Medicine)

Irene Martinez and Clare Park are working together as the Resident Leader and Director of the Bridge Mentorship Hub, respectively—an initiative through the Office of Equity and Inclusion to improve mentorship opportunities for learners from backgrounds underrepresented in medicine.

Reach Out & Read at the Culver Medical Group

Lara McHan MD (MP R4)

Dr. McHan established the Reach Out & Read program at the Culver Medical Group, the med-peds resident continuity clinic. Eighty-five percent of patients coming in for well care in the clinic are insured by Medicaid and for many of the patients, the only books they have are the ones given in the clinic. Additionally, the national Reach Out & Read organization and the book sellers with whom they partner emphasize having books that are reflective of the diversity of our patients.

Social Connectedness for Persons with Disabilities

Kunali Gurditta, MD (MP R3)

Dr. Kunali Gurditta is developing a project to improve social connectedness for people with disabilities in an effort to decrease social isolation and in turn improve their mental health. She is planning to work with and connecting Mary Cariola and Best Buddies of Western New York.

Ramadan Dietary Order Quality Improvement Initiative

Hayley Flanagan, MD (MP R4), Hannah Doyle, MD (MP R4), Amy Blatt, MD (MP graduate 2007, Associate Professor of Medicine and Pediatrics).

A multidisciplinary team at URMC implemented a meal service workflow that provides individuals who observe Ramadan the option of fasting during daytime hours with allowances for additional calorie enriched meals and fluids overnight. With this new meal ordering system in place, Strong Memorial Hospital, Highland Hospital and Golisano Children’s Hospital now have the ability to offer culturally sensitive dietary options to Muslim patients during Ramadan.

Hannah Doyle MD, Hayley Flanagan MD, Jessica Oribabor MD MS, Dean Salem MD, Conrad Gleber MD MBA, Jennifer Readlynn MD, Julia Trumbo MD, Kathryn Schneider RD, & Amy Blatt MD. Ramadan Dietary Order Quality Improvement Initiative. Society of Hospital Medicine Converge. Austin, Texas. March 2023. Poster Presentation.

Hematology/Oncology Research in Disparities

Hayley Flanagan, MD (MP R4), Kimberly Seymour, MD (MP R4)

Dr. Flanagan and Dr. Seymour have conducted two projects exploring demographic disparities in both fertility preservation counseling rates as well as mortality rates in patients who have undergone bone marrow transplant.

Vote Rx

Med-Peds residents, in collaboration with the Pediatrics department, initiated and organized the largest voter mobilization efforts on campus in our institution’s history. This team grew to include faculty at the Culver Medical Group (our Med-Peds continuity clinic), the Hoekelman Center, Internal Medicine, and Adolescent Medicine departments. This group was able to organize materials to educate patients and to advertise the importance of registering to vote, regardless of party. Over the next few months, the goal will be to re-initiate these efforts for the community.