Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine

In May of 2023, the "National Collaborative for Education to Address the Social Determinants of Health" at Northwestern published a workshop resource titled "Presence 5 for Racial Justice Workshop: Fostering Dialogue Across Medical Education to Disrupt Anti-Black Racism in Clinical Encounters." The aim of the workshop is to "...disrupt anti-black racism in the clinical setting." 

As part of its latest curricular updates from the Task Force on Inclusion and Bias, Feinberg states, "[S]tudents participating in Bystander Training, an initiative that aims to create a safer, more caring and inclusive community by engaging all students, faculty and staff and asking them to play a role in shifting our campus culture."

Feinberg Admissions states, "We prioritize the importance of cultural competency in our training."

The school made “How to Be an Antiracist” by Ibram X. Kendi required reading for the Class of 2025.

The 2020 Report to the Faculty on Social Justice Initiatives recommended that the school, “Remove race from all clinical presentations and lectures across all levels of trainee education and clinical practice. This includes all rounding, daily progress notes and case conferences.”

The 2020 Report to the Faculty on Social Justice Initiatives recommended that the school, “Support a deeper focus on community centering in the curricula of all student, resident, and fellowship (clinical and non-clinical) training programs.”

The 2020 Report to the Faculty on Social Justice Initiatives recommended that the school, “Create a campus wide bias reporting portal for all staff, students, residents, fellows and faculty that is reviewed by a Bias Incident Response and Education Team that will report to the Vice Dean for Academic Affairs.”

Throughout 2023, the school's Office of Diversity and Inclusion provided training sessions that "specifically address the role of bias in various medical practice inconsistencies and provide tools/ skills that can be used to minimize the impact of provider bias allowing for equitable and bias free interactions with patients and trainees." The Office also states, "As a necessary component of onboarding for Full Time Regular and Research Faculty at Feinberg, Faculty will participate in a small group training: 'Disrupting Bias in Academic Medicine' within the first year of their employment."  

As part of its latest curricular updates from the Task Force on Inclusion and Bias, Feinberg states, "All Feinberg faculty, staff, students, and McGaw residents and fellows are required to complete" a new training module titled "Advancing a Bias-Free and Inclusive Culture." Additionally, "450 small group faculty members have completed 'Developing Inclusive Learning Environments and Inclusive Teaching Pedagogy'" which is a "mandatory 90-minute training."

The 2020 Report to the Faculty on Social Justice Initiatives recommended that the school, “Require and support a deeper focus and increased expectations for community engagement across Departments and their faculty. Increase recognition and rewards for community and health equity scholarship across every FSM faculty track and department.”

The school has a Center for Health Equity Transformation, which aims, “To lift health for all by exposing root causes of health inequities and serving as a hub that pushes boundaries in research, education, workforce development, and community engagement.”

The Student to Resident Institutional Vehicle for Excellence (STRIVE) mentorship program at Feinberg "connects medical students and trainees from historically marginalized groups to help students succeed at Feinberg and in residency."

The Health Professions Recruitment & Exposure Program (HPREP) at Feinberg is a "five-week program for high school students of diverse backgrounds in the Chicago area who are looking for an introduction to medical education and healthcare careers."

The school’s Office of Diversity & Inclusion curated anti-racism resources, including “How to Be an Antiracist” by Ibram X. Kendi and “White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk about Racism” by Robin DiAngelo.

The Feinberg Academy of Medical Educators curated an Anti-racism in Medicine Collection “to provide educators with practice-based, peer-reviewed content to teach anti-racist knowledge and clinical skills and elevate the educational scholarship of anti-racist curricula.”

The Center for Health Equity Transformation curated Anti-Racism resources, which included “AntiRacist Baby” by Ibram X. Kendi and “White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism” by Robin DiAngelo.

The 2020 Report to the Faculty on Social Justice Initiatives recommended that the school, “Support a deeper focus on community centering in the curricula of all student, resident, and fellowship (clinical and non-clinical) training programs.”

The school’s Task Force on Inclusion & Bias Resources curated resources such as “Bias & Inclusion in the Curriculum” and “Examples of Microaggression.”

The school offers resources such as the “Addressing Bias in Learner Assessment” online training module “to understand how to identify and reduce bias in learner assessment,” and the “Writing Bias-Free Letters of Recommendation” guide.

The Department of Medical Social Sciences has, “Engaged in active sharing of anti-racism resources and promotion of initiatives occurring at department, university, and community levels – for example, through creation of a departmentwide shared repository and biweekly newsletters.”

The Department of Medical Social Sciences has, “Initiated a series of departmental town halls, with initial sessions led by the Vice Dean of Diversity and Inclusion, to deepen our shared understanding of racism in the workplace, recognize how our institutions perpetuate white supremacy culture, and advance MSS as a leader in promoting equity and inclusion.”

The school highlighted on social media that it hosts Medicine Pipeline Programs for underrepresented communities which support the school’s “commitment to building and supporting a diverse healthcare workforce.”

The school highlighted the Daniel Hale Williams Society on its social media. This society, created in 2018, serves to “focus on the recruitment of Black or African-American males into the medical profession.”

The Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine’s Office of Diversity and Inclusion has a Health Professions Recruitment and Exposure Program which is “an annual five-week educational and exposure program hosted by SNMA, LMSA, and the Office of Diversity and Inclusion that targets high school students of diverse backgrounds from the Chicagoland area” that “gives students firsthand exposure to the medical school curriculum, career options in healthcare, tools for academic success, and opportunities to interact with current medical students, graduate students, PA students, PT students, physicians, nurses, and other healthcare professionals.”

Feinberg School of Medicine has an "Anti-Racism Toolkit", where on the center of the page, it said "Feinberg asserts that racism is a public health crisis." Resources linked by the Office of DEI include "Antiracism in Medicine Collection", a compilation of academic publications studying race and medicine.

On June 23, 2023, the school's News Center reported that "The Center for Health Equity Transformation (CHET) held its annual Juneteenth Celebration of Black Culture, Art and Music webinar on June 15, featuring a discussion exploring persistent health disparities experienced by the Black community."

Feinberg provides an "Inclusive & Bias-Free Curriculum Checklist" and states the following: "The factors addressed below are often associated with marginalization and inequality in healthcare, access to care and health outcomes. Additionally, in our efforts to create and maintain an inclusive environment, we strive to avoid burdening or marginalizing our students and educators who may personally face the lasting impact of these indicators."

Feinberg provides a "Curriculum Bias Reporting" form which includes a related checklist and resource links. The school also states, "Using the resources below, members of our academic medical community may raise concerns about educational content without fear of intimidation or retaliation."

The Department of Medical Social Sciences has, “Created Inclusion, Diversity, Engagement, and Action (IDEA) Committee with sub-committees focused on short and long-term goals for: (a) hiring and recruitment, (b) mentorship and professional development, and (c) departmental culture.”

On December 12, 2022, the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine highlighted a survey from Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, which reported that there are “racial and ethnic differences” in “swimming skills” and recommended “culturally tailored intergenerational swimming programs.”