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SUNY Upstate Medical University

Medical School

Mailing Address
750 East Adams Street
Syracuse, New York 13210
Phone
(315) 464-5540
Email address
admiss@upstate.edu
School Information
"Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, NY is the only academic medical center in Central New York. The campus includes Upstate University Hospital, Upstate University Hospital at Community General, Upstate Golisano Children's Hospital and numerous satellite sites. It is also the region's largest employer with 9,460 employees. The mission of Upstate Medical University is to improve the health of the communities we serve through education, biomedical research and health care" (Source: https://www.linkedin.com/school/suny-upstate-medical-university/).
General Information
The school has engaged in an array of actions related to promoting the instruction of anti-racism on its campus. Namely, the 2020 Diversity Task Force was formed in order to highlight priorities related to education and training, among other goals. Some targeted plans included requiring faculty training within anti-racism and requiring all students, faculty, and staff to take a course related to bias. See developments below:

Actions Taken

Anti-Racism, Bias, and Diversity Training
  • Upstate planned to implement required faculty training on racism according to its 2020 Diversity Task Force.
  • According to the 2020 Diversity Task Force, Upstate planed to "offer a required short course for all incoming students, trainees and faculty and staff, orienting them to social justice and to Upstate’s mission and culture, including an introduction to local history related to social justice and brief training in bystander intervention for bias."
Curriculum Changes and Requirements
  • In 2020, the Office of Diversity and Inclusion developed its 2020 Diversity Task Force. One of its goals was to "systematically assess all Upstate curricular content for bias and implement appropriate changes to mitigate bias" and "perform a survey of the curriculum to eliminate inappropriate/offensive material and reduce heteronormative bias."
Disciplinary Measures
  • The school's Office of Institutional Equity provides a link to report incidents of "discrimination or harassment."
Program and Research Funding
  • On April 20, 2022, it was announced, "Upstate physician Amy Caruso Brown has been awarded a grant to expand her work on addressing biases in healthcare education to advance health equity. The $25,000 President’s Grant from the Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation will allow Caruso Brown to promote her Upstate Bias Checklist and further the work of the Bias Checklist Collaborative she created by funding the development of a website that will support users of the checklist."
Resources
  • The Health Sciences Library offers a list of resources on "Anti-Racism."
  • The school's Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion published its resource page which includes "Everyday Bias" and "Racial Equity Tools."
  • According to Northwestern University's National Collaborative for Education to Address the Social Determinants of Health, "At SUNY Upstate Medical University, all first-year medical students take a case-based longitudinal course in health systems called Patients to Populations (P2P). First originated in 2016, the course has long included discussions of racism in medicine."
Symbolic Actions
  • The Health Sciences Library also offers resources dedicated to "Multicultural Appreciation
  • According to the 2020 Diversity Task Force, Upstate planned to "create a social justice roundtable series and health equity M&M conferences."
Last updated February 17th, 2023
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