David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA

The school, “Implemented and launched Common Book programming with students and staff.” The school also conducted, “Anti-racism training for student and faculty Common Book Program facilitators and Educators for Excellence through the Center for Education Innovation & Learning in the Sciences (CEILS).”

The school will, “Provide resources and education to DGSOM community on critical topics of privilege, allyship and dialogue, encouraging self reflection, self-awareness and a shared sense of responsibility for advancing social justice in science, medicine and health care.”

The school implemented “a formal Common Book Program, ‘How to be an Anti-Racist,’ with structured book conversations in each HB&D block, led by trained and compensated medical student facilitators.”

The school will “work together with all Block, Thread, Clerkship, Systems Based Healthcare and College Chairs to ensure a robust focus on anti-racism, structural and social determinants of health and health equity throughout all four years of the medical school curriculum.” It will also, “Increase integration of Common Book Program into first- and second-year MD curriculum.”

The school will, “Develop an advisory committee to include experts in critical race theory, social justice, bias and health disparities (including faculty outside of the school of medicine).” An “Advisory committee will review and recommend curricular changes with regards to social justice, health equity and racism in medicine (will span content revisions, basic science lectures, PBL and doctoring cases, placements for clinical experiences, classroom methods, teacher training, and associated curricular, co-curricular, and extra-curricular activities).”

The "HEALS" curriculum at UCLA includes the "Structural Racism and Health Equity" program which is described in part as follows: "We have a collective commitment to combat structural racism. That commitment spans healthcare, education, and our society at large."

The school will, “Require anti-racism training during first six months of onboarding new staff, faculty and trainees.” The school will also, “Require annual subset of anti-racism trainings for all DGSOM community members.”

The school will, “Require anti-bias and anti-racism training for all search committee members.”

The school will, “Develop toolkit for anti-racism and inclusive teaching in the classroom and on the wards that will be available to all faculty and staff.” The school will also, “Provide faculty development on inclusive and anti-racism teaching methods” and “Include health equity topics as a requirement in each major clerkship.”

The school will, “Align the definition of merit and reward structures within the DGSOM to reflect diversity and inclusion initiatives and contributions in all mission areas.”

The school also announced, “We are committing an additional $5 million over the next three years to new initiatives, programs and interventions dedicated to antiracism, racial justice, healthy equity, diversity and inclusion. We view this as only a starting contribution and commitment.”

The school offers resources including “We are Living in a Racist Pandemic” and “Resources for Engaging in Anti-Racism Work.”

The school, “Established 7th Research Theme in Health Equity and Translational Social Science.”

The school offered “Anti-racism training for 200+ clinicians and staff in the Department of Psychiatry through the Racial Equity Institute (REI).” The school will offer “Anti-racism training for 200 faculty and staff through ENACTin DGSOM with launch EDI Champion” and is in the process of “Evaluating steps to increase anti-racism training throughout DGSOM with ENACT and REI in conjunction with the UCLA Health System.”

The school will, “Develop and sponsor health disparities/ health equity annual research symposium to highlight work done at UCLA.”

The school announced, “We are requiring all departments to develop an EDI committee (as recommended through the 2019-2020 EDI departmental reviews) and to provide appropriate support for this service.”

The school’s “EVERYDAY RACISM” series uses “Critical Race Tools to Examine Everyday Racism in Academic and Social Spaces.”

The school hosted “Nikole Hannah-Jones on Tuesday, Feb. 16 for a fireside chat on Blackness in history and medicine.”

DGSOM has a Health Equity, Diversity and Inclusion office, which aims to "build new structures and practices to promote anti-racism, inclusive excellence and equity", improve patients' clinical experience through "accessibility, cultural humility and affirming care", among other things.

The medical school website highlighted a "grassroots initiative" called Racial Justice Report Card (RJRC), founded by social justice nonprofit White Coats For Black Lives. RJRC "assesses 14 areas of academic medical centers, including diversity, curriculum, climate, treatment of workers, policing, research protocols, and racial integration of clinical care sites." It also strives to "ensure public accountability for promoting anti-racist medical practices."

On February 12, 2024, Legal Insurrection published an article titled "UCLA Medical School Assignments Allegedly Call for Destroying Borders" which reported that first year medical students at UCLA were "assigned readings from activists and educators calling for the abolition of borders," according to Do No Harm, a medical transparency group.

On March 1, 2024, Ben Shapiro (on Twitter) reported that he "obtained internal emails from UCLA's medical school" which show, for example, that "UCLA med students are told to read about wars of 'Indigenous resistance' – in which Native Americans killed thousands of white people – to 'imagine what liberation could look like'."

On April 2, 2024, the Washington Free Beacon reported that, as part of a mandatory "'structural racism'" course for first year students, "a guest speaker [Lisa Gray-Garcia] who has praised Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack on Israel led students in chants of 'Free, Free Palestine' and demanded that they bow down to 'mama earth,' according to students in the class and audio obtained by the Washington Free Beacon." According to the article, "[the] prayer also included a benediction for 'black,' 'brown,' and 'houseless people' who die because of the 'crapatalist lie' of 'private property.' The article also includes a two-minute audio clip from the lecture.

The school has initiated, “A nationwide search for a new Vice Dean position (at 100%) will be initiated by September 1, 2020. The VD in EDI will report to the Dean and be solely dedicated to delivering a culture of inclusion and anti-racism at DGSOM, and to eradicating structural racism at the school.”

The school said, “DGSOM’s selection for participation in the three-year Anti-Racist Transformation in Medical Education (ART in Med Ed) program, one of just 11 medical schools chosen, is a milestone in its journey toward anti-racism.”

In January 2022, the school posted to its Facebook page: "'Making progress will require us to engage in continued professional learning related to organization development and change management – drawing on scientific research and evidence-based practices in these fields,' says Julian McNeil, M.S. Ed, program manager of the Anti-Racism Roadmap at #DGSOMUCLA. ART in Med Ed replicates a model developed by the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai to dismantle systemic racism and bias in academic medicine."

In April 2021, the school posted on Facebook: "Health equity and translational social science (HETSS): What is it? How can we study it? How can we promote it? Explore this and more during a special introduction to DGSOM’s new HETSS research theme on Friday, April 16."

In October 2021, the school posted on Facebook: "Join us on October 8 for an exploration of advancing equity, justice and representation for our Hispanic/Latina/Latino/Latinx community ➨ uclahs.fyi/HEDI-Event"

In May 2021, the school posted on its Facebook page: "In commemoration and honor of the anniversary of George Floyd’s death, we are hosting an event dedicated to discussing how to become stronger advocates at the intersection of health care and law enforcement. While there are no quick and easy answers, UCLA Health remains firmly committed to show up and do the work to champion justice, health equity and human dignity. Co-sponsored by UCLA Health, the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, and the UCLA Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion."

In June 2020, the school posted on its Facebook page: "The David Geffen School of Medicine recognizes that a long history of institutionalized #racism in our country is a direct correlation to disparities in health and #healthcare. In effect, racism is a root cause of disparate outcomes in longevity and wellbeing. As a community dedicated to #healing humanity, we commit ourselves to illuminating the injustices that create inequity – while taking active steps to advance our advocacy and efforts in confronting racism to sustain our commitment to achieving health equity. #BLM #whitecoatsforblacklives #ItbeginswithU"

According to a tweet in January 2019, a teach-in at the school was held: "'Whiteness as Property' - a Social Justice Teach-In at @dgsomucla Dept of #Psychiatry in collaboration with #UCLA Law - brought to you by #JEDI. #white #POC #race #socialjustice"

In August 2022, the School of Medicine appointed Julian McNeil as the inaugural director of justice, equity, diversity and inclusion. McNeil was involved with the creation of the SOM racial justice report card and founding of White Coats for Black Lives chapter at UCLA.