The School of Medicine has launched a wide-reaching initiative to encourage departments to hire and retain faculty from diverse backgrounds. The effort goes hand in hand with a Barnes-Jewish Hospital strategy that aims to recruit more residents and fellows from underrepresented groups.
The medical school’s initiative, created by the Faculty Diversity Committee and Larry J. Shapiro, M.D., executive vice chancellor for medical affairs and dean of the School of Medicine, includes an incentive plan for departments to recruit faculty from minority groups. Under the approved plan, each award to a department for new minority faculty members will cover 25 percent of salary and fringe benefits for the first three years of a new appointment. In addition, each award will cover 25 percent of non-salary start-up costs.
“The growing cultural diversity of America is a phenomenon that will reshape the practice of medicine in the 21st century and beyond,” Shapiro said. “We are responding to the changing demographics of this nation and the increasing health needs of our own community by improving our enrollment of students and the recruitment of faculty from underrepresented groups.
“Cultural-competency education for all our students will be promoted through the use of in-depth clinical case studies and direct engagement with patients in community settings,” he added. “These and other efforts will create an environment in which students are more likely to remain for residency training.”
To promote this effort, the medical school in March sponsored a workshop for faculty leaders that focused on enhanced search and recruitment processes. About 60 faculty leaders and administrators attended the daylong program.
To keep the discussion going, the medical school also is holding a symposium May 16 at the Farrell Learning and Teaching Center that focuses on the school’s mission and role regarding diversity and cultural awareness. The symposium, “Diversity: Enhancing Career and Faculty Life,” includes sessions led by Arnold Donald, president and CEO of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International and member of the University’s Board of Trustees; Shapiro; Will Ross, M.D., associate dean for diversity; Diana L. Gray, M.D., associate dean for faculty affairs; and Barbara Bogomolov, manager, Interpreter Services and Refugee Health at Barnes-Jewish, as well as a faculty panel discussion, breakout sessions and small-group discussions.
For more information or to register, visit medofa.wustl.edu.
The medical school’s efforts parallel those of Barnes-Jewish Hospital, which launched its Center for Diversity and Cultural Competence (CDCC) seven months ago to develop a program to recruit medical residents who better reflected the community the hospital serves.
Andy Ziskind, M.D., president of Barnes-Jewish, made this a priority when he arrived in St. Louis two years ago from the University of Washington Medical Center in Seattle. He said he was struck by the health-care disparities that existed in his new community and wanted to become a catalyst for change.
Many minority resident physicians and postgraduate fellows who have trained at Barnes-Jewish said they felt isolated and lonely among their peers. In a city with a 52 percent African-American population, only 2 percent of residents and fellows were from underrepresented minorities.
Because of the efforts of the hospital and medical school, underrepresented minorities will for the first time comprise 24 percent of the 29 University residents who matched at Barnes-Jewish for the academic year beginning in July. Seven University medical students (four African-American, two Asian-Pacific Islanders and one Hispanic) who have participated in the program have elected to stay and train at the Washington University Medical Center. In addition, one African-American medical student will train at St. Louis Children’s Hospital.
Ross also is taking an active role in the CDCC on behalf of the medical school. Ross knows firsthand what the new center will mean to the hospital and its physicians.
After attending the medical school, Ross sought a residency program away from St. Louis and found a greater commitment to diversity and cultural competence during his residency at Vanderbilt University.
“I loved Washington University and the area, so I came back as a research fellow,” he said. “I wanted to make a commitment to changing this environment.”
Ross said the new center and its focus are important because Barnes-Jewish and the medical school both are viewed as national leaders in health care, education and research.
“We should also be recognized for our work in cultural competence and diversity and lead by example,” he said. “Our institutions will be better because of this, our patients will receive better care because of a greater understanding of one another and our marketability will improve because we embrace a workforce that mirrors our country.
“We hope to create a critical mass of minority residents who feel empowered to network, won’t feel isolated and will be more likely to actively recruit others and encourage them to stay,” Ross said.
The Resident and Fellows Diversity Initiative was created with a gift from the Barnes-Jewish Hospital Foundation, allowing a grant for members who actively participate in the initiative.