Northeast Ohio Medical University

The President’s Diversity and Equity Advisory Council 2022 Report states that "Tests like MCAT (Medical College Admission Test) are biased" and that "The solution was a no-brainer for us: Make medical school accessible to qualified underrepresented minorities now and improve the prevalence of diverse health professionals, and you will improve patient trust of providers as well as the outcomes for those who have traditionally been underrepresented with true health equity."

The President’s Diversity and Equity Advisory Council 2022 Report states, "After several meetings during the first few months of 2021, the Advisory Council prioritized objectives where resources could be used to have the biggest impact, adopting 13 of them to support goals of increasing underrepresented minority (URM) enrollment while accelerating success and ensuring sustainability."

The NEOMED 2015-2020 Strategic Plan states the following regarding its admissions strategies: "Increase funding for diversity admissions recruitment including outreach efforts with minority communities and diverse professional organizations. Increase underrepresented diverse student campus visits and participation in minority education recruitment fairs."

In the summer of 2023, the university published its response to the Supreme Court's decision regarding race-conscious admission policies and stated the following: “NEOMED is currently reviewing the full text of the Supreme Court decision to determine what impact the decision will have on NEOMED. We are also awaiting legislation in Ohio to determine any impact the state’s changes may have on diversity programs. NEOMED includes diversity among its strategic priorities to train and educate health professionals who reflect the communities they will one day serve. Recognizing the patterns of disparate outcomes that occur from standardized testing, NEOMED subscribes to best practices in the use of holistic admission approaches that provide opportunities for an array of students to thrive in advanced health professions degree programs."

The NEOMED 2022-2027 Strategic Plan states the following: "Manage the recruitment of underrepresented and minority (URM) students to meet targets established by the University."

The NEOMED 2015-2020 Strategic Plan states that "Student development around unconscious bias will be implemented during student orientation and throughout student matriculation."

On February 1, 2021, the university's news site reported that after the George Floyd and Black Lives Matter protests of 2020, "a seven-member student team of second-year College of Medicine students led by Stacey Gardner-Buckshaw, Ph.D., assistant professor of family and community medicine, developed a plan for anti-racism training."

On March 1, 2021, the university's news site reported on a "series of anti-racism workshops organized by NEOMED students" which "explored aspects of intersectionality."

The President’s Diversity and Equity Advisory Council 2022 Report states the following: "At NEOMED, we fight to address racial disparities in medicine, including an underrepresentation of textbook images demonstrating manifestations of diseases in people of color. This software [VisualDX] helps us tackle that disparity by allowing access to a vast library of images of disease presentations, specific to people of color."

The President’s Diversity and Equity Advisory Council 2022 Report states, "In alignment with the University’s Strategic Plan, three goals and 13 objectives were established to increase campus diversity, as well as provide a more equitable and culturally competent curriculum for students in the Colleges of Medicine, Pharmacy and Graduate Studies."

The NEOMED 2015-2020 Strategic Plan states that "A number of initiatives have already been implemented, which include: diversity campus climate surveys, diversity focus groups, diversity co-curricular education, and efforts to infuse cultural competency into the curriculum."

Goal three of The NEOMED 2015-2020 Strategic Plan states the following: "Infuse and maintain the principles of diversity in the curriculum. Promote pedagogical strategies that facilitate respect of differences, understanding health disparities, cultural impact on health care and health care decisions, and effective cross cultural communication in the health care profession."

The NEOMED 2022-2027 Strategic Plan states that it would "[i]nfuse cultural humility, diversity, and inclusion in all facets of the curriculum, instruction (classroom, lab, and clinical settings), and non-academic campus life."

The NEOMED 2015-2020 Strategic Plan states that the university would "Develop and implement mandatory diversity training for managers and supervisors which includes unconscious bias, intercultural communication and cultural competency."

The university's Social Justice Pathway program is "designed to introduce medicine students to contemporary social justice issues that intersect with medical practice, as well as to foster critical thinking on social issues and compassionate care for underserved, marginalized, or otherwise socially disadvantaged and/or vulnerable patient populations."

NEOMED offers several types of diversity awards to its faculty, staff, students and other community members which include awards and scholarships of up to $2500. Awardees are those who promote the ideals of DEI on campus or the needs of underrepresented communities. Several of the awardees will also "be recognized at the Employee Recognition Ceremony in 2024."

The university provides social justice and anti-racism resources which includes Ibram Kendi's "How to Be an Antiracist" and "White Fragility : Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk about Racism" by Robin DiAngelo.

The Embracing Diversity Series at NEOMED "celebrate multiple dimensions of diversity and are designed to generate meaningful discussions about the benefits of diversity, equity and inclusion in healthcare professions."

The University Diversity Council at NEOMED is "strongly committed to promoting diversity, inclusivity and equity" and is comprised of faculty, staff, and students.

NEOMED's Inclusivity Center provides "resources to educate campus about cultural worldviews; attitudes towards cultural differences, and knowledge of different cultural practices."

As part of its Statement on Diversity, the university states that it is "committed to developing transformational leaders who work to achieve health equity, as defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, by addressing historic and contemporary injustices; overcoming economic, social, and other obstacles to health and health care; and eliminating preventable health disparities."