Keck School of Medicine of USC

As part of the KSOM Anti-Racism Task Force, the school admissions will “set a target admission rate of students from URM groups,” diversify the official members of the admissions committee, and hold “yearly implicit bias training for interviewers and admissions committee members.”

The Keck School of Medicine created the Bridging the Gaps Summer Research Program in order to “provide an opportunity to outstanding underrepresented students to gain meaningful exposure to the exceptional research and clinical programs,” “increase the number of underrepresented minorities who are physician scientists and basic medical scientists,” “increase the number of underrepresented minorities conducting research aimed at reducing health disparities,” and “increase the number of underrepresented minorities interested in pursuing future studies at Keck.”

The school’s Office of Diversity and Inclusion offers Implicit Bias Trainings.

The Keck School of Medicine of USC has a page dedicated to elaborating upon DEI Programs and Resources at USC.

As part of the KSOM Anti-Racism Task Force, the school curriculum is adjusted such that “the Health Justice and Systems of Core Curriculum will include the topics of systemic racism and bias in healthcare,” the curriculum office will monitor all lecture and group content to “ensure that any discussion of race is framed in contemporary anti-racist thought,” a restorative justice policy for racism will be implemented, and there will be “mandated anti-racism training for all ICM and PPM instructors.”

The school offers courses and book clubs on the role of race in medicine. The Spring 2021 Book Club selected book was “How to Be an Anti-Racist” by Ibram X. Kendi.

On June 27, 2023, the Department of Population and Public Health Sciences within the Keck School of Medicine at USC announced that the department will be “set to launch the Fellowship in Continuous Learning for Antiracist Curricular Change (CLARCC), a cohort-based curriculum initiative focused on fostering a culture of self-reflection, learning and continuous improvement to advance racial equity.”

In Fall of 2020, the Justice through Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, Well-being and Social Transformation initiative was formed, which is also known as JEDI-WeST. This initiative was formed under Dr. Ricky Bluthenthal. The initiative will focus on “working to accomplish its mission through programs and policies that encourage faculty/staff/learner engagement, professional development and mentoring, departmental and interdisciplinary partnerships and collaboration, and community outreach & service,” “assisting in the recruitment of a diverse workforce and student population by demonstrating a commitment to inclusion,” and “supporting employee well-being, psychological safety, engagement, retention and professional fulfillment.”

On June 5, 2020, the KSOM students and staff joined the White Coats for Black Lives initiative to honor George Floyd.

The Keck School of Medicine has a Diversity in Medicine Visiting Clerkship Award, which is given by the Department of Emergency Medicine, the Office of the Dean, and the Office of Diversity and Inclusion. This award “provides support for fourth year underrepresented in medicine (URiM) medical students to participate in visiting student clerkships at our institution” in order to “increase awareness of opportunities in academic medicine for student groups traditionally underrepresented in medicine.”

On December 7, 2022, the Keck School of Medicine’s Department of Population and Public Health Sciences released an article discussing how the department “has been awarded approximately $300,000 over 18 months by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation” as a “part of their Transforming Academia for Equity initiative, aimed at progressing faculty diversity, equity and inclusion in departments and schools of public health.”

On March 22, 2022, the Keck School of Medicine released an article outlining numerous efforts to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion through research projects and efforts, including “multimillion-dollar awards from the National Institutes of Health [which] have launched vital efforts such as a Cancer Moonshot project and a Regional Minority Health Center.”

The Keck School of Medicine at USC has a Summer Program In Diabetes & Obesity Research (SPIDOR) which is a 10-week “funded summer research experience providing outstanding underrepresented students interested in science and medicine an opportunity to gain meaningful exposure to the exceptional research and clinical programs at the Keck School of Medicine.”

On August 13, 2020, the school hosted a presentation by Edwin Lindo, JD, a Critical Race Theory Scholar and educator.

Following the death of George Floyd, the KSOM administration began the Keck School of Medicine Anti-Racism Task Force to promote racial equality and racial justice in student affairs, wellness, curriculum, and admissions.

The Keck School issued statements following the Chauvin verdict and the death of Daunte Wright.

The Caruso Department of Otolaryngology Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Action Committee has made several DEI commitments. The department will involve the “integration of disparities and health equity in all didactics.”

The Caruso Department of Otalaryngology’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Action Committee will launch a “journal club on health disparities, social issues in medicine, etc.”

The Caruso Department of Otolaryngology’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Action Committee will be working towards launching “Health Disparity research projects.”

The Department of Otolaryngology’s DEI Action Committee will review “progressive residency rank criteria to promote diversity and representation.”

The school’s Department of Otolaryngology will “maintain mentorship and interest groups, for recruiting and retaining under-represented minorities from the community into our field.”