Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

The school launched the a three-year “Anti-Racist Transformation in Medical Education” project to “Develop the capacity of medical schools to dismantle systemic racism and bias in their work and learning environments” and “Promote shared learning on how to dismantle racism within and across medical schools” through an “interactive virtual learning platform.”

The Department of Medical Education committed to, “Implementing an antiracist curriculum for the medical school leaders, educators, administrators, and mentors.”

As part of the school’s curriculum re-envisioning, it will incorporate “Ground training in the underpinnings of social determinants of health and racism/bias” in its content.

The school offers a “Racism & Bias Reading List,” that includes “Understanding and Dismantling Racism: The Twenty-First Century Challenge to White America” and “Black and White Racial Identity—Theory, Research, Practice.”

The school’s Racism and Bias Initiative (RBI) x Center for Anti-Racism in Practice (CAP) Fellows will “contribute to the existing body of antiracist work within Medical Education through nine key projects across the School,” such as “Equity in Admissions” and “Anti-Oppressive MEPO Assessment” (which involves developing “a comprehensive list of existing assessment tools related to anti-oppression for the new Medical Education Program Objective.”).

The school said, “By participating in Chats for Change, we offer an opportunity for attendees to explore key concepts related to racism and bias and uncover who they are in relation to others.” One Chats for Change is “offered to all faculty, staff, and students within the Mount Sinai Health System,” while the other is “offered nationally—to all within the medical education and healthcare communities.”

The school held a “Medical Education Grand Rounds” event where participants would “Understand the history of scientific racism” and “Understand race as a social construct,” among other objectives.

The school’s Office of Diversity & Inclusion offered a “United in Solidarity” resource guide, which included Ibram X. Kendi’s “How to Be an Antiracist” and Robin DiAngelo’s “White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism.”

The Mount Sinai Health System Task Force to Address Racism will be “addressing racism and its effects on our faculty, staff, students, trainees, patients, visitors, and the communities we serve.”

The health system’s task force aimed to, “Enhance leadership learning, capacity, knowledge, engagement, and accountability so that all leaders are able to participate fully in anti-racism and equity efforts.”

The health system’s task force aimed to, “Provide anti-racism education and resources throughout the MSHS in order to foster a learning community at all levels and to help advance an anti-racism and equity culture.”

The health system’s task force held, “Town Halls, listening tours, and community-building efforts are focusing on health equity and anti-racism.”

The health system announced, “Institute for Health Equity Research was founded, and the focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion in research was expanded.”

The Office for Diversity and Inclusion offers a “course for managers: Creating a Brave Space for Conversations about Race. The course is a two-part series providing you with tools to develop increased confidence to facilitate discussions around race and racism with your colleagues and teams.”

In January of 2022, the school highlighted on social media that its System Chair of Neurology will speak at the University of Rochester’s annual Neurotherapeutics Symposium, The 2022 symposium focused on the theme of “Integrating Equity within Translational Research.” The specific leadership panel focused on “Ending Structural Racism during Translational Research in Neurology.”

In December of 2021, the school took to social media and highlighted one of its Residents of the Month, Dr. Natalie Cohen, for creating the Anti-Racism Task Force within the Department of OBGYN.

In October of 2021, the school highlighted the Mount Sinai Health System’s Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer on its social media.

In August of 2021, the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai announced on social media that it partnered with Meharry Medical College to “address racism and bias in the basic sciences and introduce greater diversity and inclusion.”

The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai announced on social media that it will be providing fellowship awards to graduate students “for projects focused on anti-racism work” through the Anti-Racism Liaison.

In 2021, the school launched and highlighted its seminar series, “The Impact of Racism on Mental Health,” on social media.

In 2021, the school announced on social media that it would host an event on “racial healing.”

In October of 2021, the school announced on social media that the school has been “awarded a five-year, $16 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to foster inclusive excellence in the biomedical sciences using evidence-based approaches.”

In December of 2021, the school announced on social media that the Mount Sinai’s Psychiatry Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee will host a monthly lecture series.