George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences

The DC Health and Academic Prep Program (DC HAPP) is a “pipeline program coordinated by the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences Office of Diversity and Inclusion to increase access to healthcare careers and foster diversity in the medical field.”

The GW Diversity Network at GW SMHS “is a multicultural group of GW residents and faculty from various departments” that promotes “diversity and inclusion by recruiting outstanding trainees from underrepresented minority groups and supporting these trainees through residency into their fellowship or career.”

The School of Medicine and Health Sciences' "CORE Health" functions as a "multidisciplinary student research lab that relies on reciprocal university community partnerships by meeting the aims of the Anti Racism Coalition within GW’s School of Medicine and Health Sciences."

CORE Health offers professional development courses on topics such as "Moving Beyond Bystanding to Disrupting Racism," "Do I Have the Capacity to be Anti-racist?" and "Equitably Engaging Priority Populations in Pediatric Clinical Research."

On June 29, 2023, the school released a statement in response to the Supreme Court decision, stating, “The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Thursday that using racial considerations in admissions at Harvard and the University of North Carolina violate the equal protection clause of the Constitution, a decision that will impact the way that colleges and universities in the United States select their students. In response, George Washington University President Mark S. Wrighton and President-elect Ellen M. Granberg released a joint statement to the university community expressing their disappointment in the court’s ruling, strongly reaffirming GW’s commitment to inclusive excellence and reiterating the educational benefits of a diverse student body.”

On April 13, 2023, the school highlighted a student who was awarded the Anti-Racism Coalition Scholarship.

The ARC has an Educational Series which offers the Spring 2022 Anti-Racism Book Club.

The school founded an Anti-Racism Coalition which "aims to help students, faculty, and staff better understand concepts such as anti-racism and structural racism."

As part of the Annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr Week Lecture Series, GW SMHS hosted a lecture on Confronting Structural Racism with Wendy Ellis as the Keynote Speaker.

The Office of Diversity and Inclusion at GW SMHS has a number of DEI Programs that seek to “develop and support the next generation of diverse healthcare professionals by providing opportunities for education, development, and mentorship.”

On January 11, 2023, the GW SMHS Office of Diversity and Inclusion presented a discussion on “Confronting US History: We Must End RACISM to End Health Disparities.”

The Physician Assistant Program at GWU SMHS “believes diversity, equity and inclusion are fundamental to both improving students' experiences and broadening perspectives. Recruiting faculty and staff from diverse backgrounds supports the mission of the department to educate future clinicians who will represent and serve their communities. Consistent with the School of Medicine and Health Sciences definition, diversity is defined broadly to include individuals with unique work and life experiences, talents and traits, as well as gender, race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic background.”

The Rodham Institute at GWU SMHS “believes that academic medical centers can and should be an active part of the solution to eliminate health disparities, and to achieve health equity in our nation’s capital.”

As part of the 2023-2026 Strategic Plan, the School of Medicine and Health Sciences commits to working to “actively diversify future faculty through leadership development programs and enhance opportunities for those underrepresented in medicine.”

The school will “establish Faculty mentoring committees and department equity leaders in clinical departments.”

Within the strategic plan, the school will establish a “faculty committee on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI).”

On June 29, 2023, the school published its response to the Supreme Court's decision regarding race-conscious admission policies and stated the following: “we continue to affirm the critical importance of representation in the health care workforce to optimize the quality of care we provide to our patients and communities. Our GW SMHS and GW Medical Faculty Associates commitments to eliminate health disparities and improve health outcomes are founded on our ability to expand the cohort of learners who are currently underrepresented in health and medicine. While we are disappointed with this decision, we remain steadfast in our mission and will work diligently to achieve the goal of equity in health care despite the new challenges presented by this ruling today."