Harvard Medical School

The organization Do No Harm also compiled "Verbatim excerpts from the secondary application questions posted on ProspectiveDoctor.com." According to the report, the school asks, "Examples might include significant challenges in access to education, unusual socioeconomic factors, identification with a minority culture, religion, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation or gender identity. Briefly explain how such factors have influenced your motivation for a career in medicine."

HMS states that it is "committed to the enrollment of a diverse body of talented students who reflect the diversity of the patients they will serve."

HMS offers a course for health care practitioners titled "Advancing Health Equity: Skills for Health Care Providers" which "provide[s] health care professionals with the knowledge and skills to identify strategies to improve health equity in their clinical practice" and "enhance skills to overcome structural and functional obstacles to advance health equity in health care systems and in our society as a whole."

HMS provides unconscious bias training and resources and states, "Recognizing our Unconscious Bias is a critical step in developing a culture of equity and inclusion within HMS and in our partnerships with other communities."

The Program in Medical Education (PME) task force was formed in 2020 to “review functions and programs across PME, including the learning environment, curriculum, faculty and staff development, admissions, and student affairs and assessment, with a goal of promoting anti-racism.”

The school said, “We will create clearer, more direct outlets for members of our community to report instances of discrimination.”

Within its preclinical departments, HMS plans to hire up to four "outstanding scientists in the life sciences who are committed to advancing HMS' mission and community values" with regards to diversity, inclusion and belonging. This is part of HMS' cohort-hire initiative for faculty.

Harvard Medical School's media team wrote an article titled "Anti-Racist Epidemiology", highlighting how a study led by HMS researchers suggests reparations could have "surprising public health benefits for Black individuals and the entire nation." In the analysis, researchers suggested if reparations had been made before the COVID-19 pandemic, transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in Massachusetts' overall population could have been reduced by "anywhere from 30 percent to 68 percent." This research was done in collaboration with the Lancet Commission on Reparations and Redistributive Justice.

In April 2022, the President of Harvard and the Harvard Corporation dedicated $100 million to the implementation of recommendations to publicly reckon with its historical ties to slavery, according to Dr. Joan Reede, dean for diversity and community partnership at Harvard Medical School.

The Oral Health Fellowship Program at HMS is an "academic degree-granting program, designed to create oral health leaders, particularly oral health leaders from groups underrepresented in medicine, who will pursue careers in health policy, public health practice and academia."

The school said, “We will develop new classes for master’s and PhD students to acknowledge the ways in which racism is embedded in science and scientific culture and work to redress these longstanding issues.”

The Office for Diversity, Inclusion, and Community Partnership has an Antiracism resources guide, which includes two of Ibram X. Kendi’s books, “How To Be An Antiracist” and “Antiracist Baby.” It also includes Robin DiAngelo’s “White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism.”

The Harvard Medical School Genetics Anti-Racism Group “called on the genetics department ‘to create a self-sustaining social infrastructure that can crystalize antiracist ideas and turn them into concrete actions that collectively change the culture of science at HMS Genetics and beyond.’”

The Harvard Medical School Genetics Anti-Racism Group “started teach-ins” on campus.

The Program in Global Surgery and Social Change said that community members will “participate in and lead informed discussions about antiracism through a dedicated anti-racism curriculum; we will educate ourselves about the history of racism and colonialism in health, and address racism in our spheres of influence.”

HMS has a Visiting Research Internship Program (VRIP), which is an eight-week "mentored immersion in clinical and translational research," and has been used since 2009 by HMS to "bring more diverse voices into medicine and science." Harvard Catalyst--HMS' clinical and translational science center--coordinates the VRIP in partnership with the HMS Office for Diversity Inclusion and Community Partnership and with funding from the NIH National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS).

The goal of the school's Better Together Plan is "across-the-board increased representation of underrepresented, historically marginalized individuals such as URM, women, those who identify as LGBTQ, and individuals with disabilities — at all levels, particularly senior faculty and department administrators and leaders."

On June 29, 2023, HMS' Black Staff Caucus and Countway Library hosted an event to "observe Juneteenth National Independence Day to commemorate June 19, 1865."

HMS has a resource webpage dedicated to racial and social justice which includes links to the following organizations: "HUCTW Solidarity: Black Lives Matter," White Coats for Black Lives," "Movement for Black Lives," "Black Lives Matter Cambridge," and "Black Lives Matter Boston."

On October 14, 2020, HMS held an event titled "The Need for Critical Race and Feminist Theory in Health Equity,"

The “Massachusetts Medical Society and the Massachusetts Department of Public Health have announced a new partnership with the state’s four medical schools—Boston University School of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Tufts University School of Medicine, and the University of Massachusetts Medical School—to jointly formulate and adopt a set of principles,” which “include a commitment to acknowledging and learning about the history of racism in medicine and the role of privilege, as well as recognizing explicit and implicit biases. The principles also contain a promise to lead and commit, with leaders actively working to identify and dismantle racism.”

The class of 1995 has an Antiracism Task Force, which is "taking action against systematic racism and health disparities."

The school said on Twitter that it has "been engaged in focused efforts to promote diversity and inclusion on campus, continuing to take steps to eradicate racism in medicine, address health care inequities, and become a more inclusive, diverse, and anti-racist institution."

The school tweeted, "The HMS ’95 Antiracism Task Force aims to increase awareness among the class, HMS in general, and the broader community of issues of systemic racism and health care disparities."

The school has an "associate director of anti-racism curriculum and faculty development."

The school's task force "is reviewing the HMS learning environment, curriculum, faculty and staff development, admissions, and student affairs, with a goal of promoting anti-racism."

The school tweeted, "The Harvard Medical School Office for Diversity Inclusion and Community Partnership has compiled a list of anti-racism resources."

The school tweeted, "'Racism is a cancer that has afflicted our country for centuries. It must be excised,' said HMS Dean George Q. Daley at an April 22 community anti-racism event. 'There is more we can and must do. This work is a responsibility of each and every one of us.' #HMSStandsAgainstRacism"

The school tweeted, "Explore the past, present and future of Social Movements, Healthcare Access & Equity in this webinar series from @HMSPrimaryCare and @HMSghsm Program in Global Primary Care and Social Change."

The school has an "Equity, Social Justice, and Advocacy Lecture and Award Ceremony."

The school has an "Equity, Social Justice, and Advocacy award," which "reflects the way HMS community members serve others both locally and across the globe by working to promote equity and social justice."

The school tweeted, "Join @HMSbioethics for a Black History Month Series examining the history of racism in healthcare, its impact on Black individuals, and how we can promote health equity in medical education #BlackHistoryMonth."

The school tweeted, "COVID Academy brings together public sector leaders and public health and medical experts to investigate and evaluate the implementation of equity-centered COVID response and recovery strategies."

The school held an "Equity and Social Justice Webinar: Engaging Minoritized Communities in Research."

In 2014, the school posted on its Facebook page, "'I stand with Harvard medical Students in opposition to racism and a culture of violence that together have produced so many tragic events of late.' -Jeffrey S. Flier, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, Harvard University."

In 2018, the school posted on its Facebook page, "In a stand for social justice and against racism, HMS students and faculty joined others in medical schools throughout the country in a 'die-in' demonstration to support White Coats for Black Lives."

The school posted on its Facebook page, "The Task Force to Address Racism is currently carrying out its in-depth, internal review of the HMS Program in Medical Education, identifying areas where racism may be embedded and providing recommendations to eradicate it."

The school posted on its Facebook page, "Children are especially vulnerable to indirectly experienced racism because during critical phases of their development children’s lives are inevitably linked to the experiences of others."

The school posted on its Facebook page, "HMS has been focusing on promoting diversity and inclusion on campus, continuing to take steps to eradicate racism in medicine, address health care inequities, and become a more inclusive, diverse, and anti-racist institution."

The school posted on its Facebook page, "During the 'Stand Against Racism' rally on April 22, members of the HMS community united to assuage the hurt and fear of ongoing racial injustice in the U.S. and to engender hope and inspiration for the future. #HMSStandsAgainstRacism"

The school posted on its Facebook page, "The Howard, Dorsey, Still lecture celebrates the School’s equity pioneers and reaffirms HMS’s commitment to excellence in the areas of diversity inclusion and valuing all members of the community."

The school posted on its Facebook page, "Identifying policies that reduce racial and ethnic disparities in access to care and health is key to advancing health equity."

The school posted on its Instagram page, "Beginning classes during a global pandemic poses challenges for the incoming students. But these challenges will give them a greater chance 'to make an impact in public health and to address disparities,' said HMS Dean for Medical Education Edward Hundert.⁣"

The school posted on its Instagram page, "The skin deflects danger, heralds disease, and captures sensory stimuli. And in this pandemic, its color might mean the difference between life and death."

The school posted on its Instagram page, "Last year, thousands have raised their voices to demand accountability and change in the many institutions that intentionally or unintentionally perpetuate racism and societal injustice. The medical profession—and Harvard Medical School—are not immune to this call to action.⁣ The Winter 2021 issue of Harvard Medicine magazine tackles important topics of racism in medicine. In this issue, explore challenges to race-based algorithms in clinical decision making, community health effort to care for people in underserved areas, delivery of mental health support to refugees, and more.⁣"

The school posted on its Instagram page, "HMS students, faculty, and staff joined with colleagues from across New England on Apr. 22 in-person and online to hear songs, poetry, and speeches, gaining inspiration from one another and from campus leaders in the face of ongoing episodes of racism and bigotry in the U.S. #HMSStandsAgainstRacism"

The school posted on its Instagram page, "With the COVID-19 pandemic ongoing, the Class of 2025 acknowledged they are beginning their journey into the medical profession during a unique time in history. Their oath included promises to lead with respect and honesty, to take an outspoken and anti-racist approach to patient care, and to collaborate with communities to dismantle the structures that oppress and exploit patients on the basis of class, ability, age, sex, gender, ethnicity, sexuality, legal status, and language systems.⁣"

In a STAT article from August 2022, Harvard’s Tom Sequist’s health equity initiatives were featured. Currently, he serves as Chief Patient Experience and Equity Officer, Mass General Brigham and Professor of Medicine and Health Care Policy, Harvard Medical School, with joint appointments in the Division of General Medicine at Brigham & Women’s Hospital & Department of Health Care. Michelle Morse, a former Brigham physician and assistant professor at Harvard Medical School, reiterated similar difficulties in implementing equity initiatives. She now works as chief medical officer and deputy commissioner for New York City’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.

In December 2022, Harvard Medical School will be hosting the 2022 Equity, Social Justice, and Advocacy Award Lecture and Ceremony.

Harvard extended its 2023-2025 Application for Hthe arvard Medical School Office for Diversity Inclusion and Community Partnership (DICP) Faculty Fellowship and Harvard Catalyst Program for Diversity Inclusion  Faculty Fellowship.

To "promote diverse perspectives on and understanding of history and context," HMS "[recognizes and supports]" the newly established HMS Black Postdoctoral Association and Black Staff Caucus.

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 will certainly comply with the Court’s decision...For almost a decade, Harvard has vigorously defended an admissions system that, as two federal courts ruled, fully complied with longstanding precedent. In the weeks and months ahead, drawing on the talent and expertise of our Harvard community, we will determine how to preserve, consistent with the Court’s new precedent, our essential values."