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Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University

Medical School

Mailing Address
3500 N. Broad Street
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19140
Phone
(215) 707-3656
Email address
medadmissions@temple.edu
School Information
"Founded in 1901 as Pennsylvania’s first co-educational medical school, the Lewis Katz School of Medicine has attained a national reputation for training humanistic clinicians and biomedical scientists. The school attracts students and faculty committed to making a difference in patient care, research, education and public service — at home and across the globe" (Source: https://medicine.temple.edu/about/about-school).
General Information
The school has several DEI and anti-racist initiatives. This includes the evaluation of bias and inclusion within the Department of Surgery regarding its programs. Furthermore, faculty development sessions are being hosted on the topics of diversity, equity, and inclusion. A Student Diversity Council also works on similar initiatives. See developments below:

Actions Taken

Anti-Racism, Bias, and Diversity Training
  • The school's Section of Infectious Diseases Department describes its Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion work and states, "Our faculty have all participated in the unconscious bias training program offered by the AAMC [Association of American Medical Colleges] called:  The Science of Unconscious Bias and What To Do About it in the Search and Recruitment Process.  This program has initiated several honest, in depth conversations about racism in medicine and what we can do--both as individuals and collectively--to be actively antiracist in our work and in our lives." 
Curriculum Changes and Requirements
  • The Department of Surgery will "promote education programming and mentorship to support a diverse cohort of medical students to enter a career in surgery."
  • The Department of Surgery will "assess and improve upon the current state of surgical trainee evaluation to eliminate the impact of implicit and explicit bias."
  • The Department of Surgery will "evaluate the surgical conference content to ensure inclusion of education on cultural competency, structural racism and implicit bias."
  • On April 25, 2021, the school's News section reported on the work of the Student Diversity Council and stated, "After George Floyd’s murder, the Council presented Katz administration with a list of actions demanding immediate attention to make the school more racially just." A task force has been created "to look more deeply and carefully at issues of race and racism in the curriculum, identifying ways to make it more racially just."
Faculty/Staff Requirements
  • The Department of Surgery will "provide ongoing faculty development sessions in topics related to diversity, equity and inclusion."
Political Actions and Support for Anti-Racism
  • On April 25, 2021, the school's News section reported on the work of the Student Diversity Council and stated that "A consultant has been hired to engage Katz’s leadership team in reflective developmental sessions to help the school keep moving its academic environment toward racial equity. A goal of these sessions is to review School policies and practices to identify and minimize structural racism’s impact on our students, faculty and staff."
Program and Research Funding
  • On October 29, 2021, the school's Office of Diversity, Inclusion, and Health Equity (OHEDI) announced the "inaugural winners of the Lewis Katz School of Medicine Health Equity Leadership & Social Justice Awards — a recognition program established to honor faculty, staff, trainees, and students across the Lewis Katz School of Medicine and Temple University Health System doing excellent work for people and groups underrepresented in medicine and/or disenfranchised in society."
  • On July 13, 2022, the school's News section published an article titled "New $4M NIH Grant Awarded to Researchers at Lewis Katz School of Medicine to Fund Groundbreaking Research on Disparities in Hepatitis B and Liver Disease in Asian-Americans" and stated "The grant is the first of its kind to support research that addresses the impacts of structural racism and discrimination on liver cancer and liver disease in high-risk Asian-Americans."
Symbolic Actions
  • The school's Department of Surgery issued a "Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion" statement and stated "Though we are ONE WORLD, recent history (COVID, murder of Walter Wallace and social justice movements around the globe) has reminded us of both the successes and opportunities of the past. We have so much work to do in order to move into an era of JUSTICE for ALL."
  • On June 29, 2023, the school published its response to the Supreme Court's decision regarding race-conscious admission policies and stated the following: "Temple University, since its inception, has stood as a beacon of access and opportunity. Our founder, Russell Conwell, firmly believed that every student, regardless of their background, should have the chance to receive a high-quality education. This belief continues to resonate deeply within the Lewis Katz School of Medicine, and we uphold these tenets in the fabric of our medical community."
  • The school hosts an annual Black Men in Medicine conference.
Last updated August 5th, 2023
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