Office of Multicultural Affairs - Diversity & Inclusion

The words 'Diversity and Inclusion' will be removed from the page titles once the pages are ready to publicize. It is needed right now for organizational purposes

In an effort to foster and preserve an educational environment that is both inclusive and diverse, the School of Medicine created and funded OMA in 2015 in the Office of Admissions/Student Affairs. Initial efforts focused on retention and recruitment of students from backgrounds underrepresented in medicine (URiM). In 2018, the OMA was elevated to the School of Medicine’s Office of the Dean, with Bennetta Horne as its inaugural director and an expanded focus to maximize impact on recruitment, retention, support, and maintenance of a diverse faculty as well as student population. The OMA will be moving to a larger physical space within the School of Medicine and adding staff to accommodate expanded programming in 2021.

OMA Grand Rounds

Since 2017, OMA has sponsored semiannual Grand Rounds on diversity, inclusion, bias, and cultural competency, with an outside speaker invited to focus on a specific topic. These school-wide events are open to all members of the School of Medicine’s community, and are often followed by targeted health care diversity workshops that focus on the individual speaker’s specialties and research interests. OMA Grand Rounds have included:

• “Trust and Authenticity: Building Sustained Relationships With Our Colleagues and Those We Serve” -- David McIntosh, PhD, MA, Vice President, Chief Inclusion and Diversity Officer, Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, October 2019
   
• “Inclusive Excellence: Breaking Down Barriers to Success and Recognizing Your Greatest Potential” -- W. Marcus Lambert, PhD, MS, Assistant Dean and Assistant Professor at the Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences, March 2019
   
• “Microaggressions: How Do They Impact the Academic Environment for Health Professional Students and Residents” -- Darin A. Latimore, MD, Deputy Dean and Chief Diversity Officer and Associate Professor of Internal Medicine at Yale School of Medicine, December 2018

Implicit Bias and Cultural Competency Training 
To help foster a campus-wide culture of respect and inclusion, the Office of Multicultural Affairs offers Bias and Cultural Competency Training during new faculty orientation every year, and similar training to student groups. In 2018, Office of Multicultural Affairs Director Bennetta Horne met individually with the chairs and administrators of each department to discuss diversity policies and procedures for the recruitment and retention of faculty. OMA arranged for Dr. Loretta Overaye to provide Implicit Bias, Cultural Competency, and Equity, Diversity, Inclusion trainings to small groups of the leadership and staff members from several departments. Ms. Horne has continued to offer similar trainings on a larger scale to further the discussions resulting from Dr. Overaye’s initial presentation.