Skip to content

The University of Vermont Robert Larner College of Medicine

Medical School

Mailing Address
89 Beaumont Ave.
Burlington, Vermont 05405
Phone
(802) 656-8577
School Information
"Founded in 1822, The Larner College of Medicine is the seventh oldest medical school in the nation. In 2016, a gift from Class of 1942 graduate Dr. Robert Larner and his wife, Helen, strengthened the College's efforts to provide a medical education that is second to none. Initiatives included digitizing the curriculum, creating innovative classrooms to facilitate active learning, building an enhanced simulation center to help students learn clinical skills, and the recruitment of an endowed Professor of Medical Education to lead the Teaching Academy. Vermont ranks 1st in the nation in active patient care primary care physicians per capita, and 5th in all physicians per capita (AAMC State Physician Workforce Data Book, 2019). The Larner College of Medicine ranked 8th for Rural Medicine education (US News & World Report, 2016). "Admissions is highly selective, from a pool of 8,814 applicants, Larner College of Medicine enrolled 124 students in the class of 2025" (Source: http://www.med.uvm.edu/about).
General Information
The College of Medicine has engaged in several DEI and anti-racism efforts. The school will be utilizing the “Finding Our Common Ground” curriculum which has an emphasis on diversity and inclusion. Furthermore, the school hosts a Social Justice Coalition. Many resources on anti-racism are offered, and the school has a section of its blog dedicated to discussion of DEI topics. See developments below:

Actions Taken

Admissions Policies
  • The school's DEI office states that "diversity and inclusion supports the cultural humility that enhances clinical effectiveness, informs research and results in effective interaction in cross cultural situations."
  • In September 2021, Dr. Marissa Coleman became the school's first vice president of DEI. Prior to this appointment as a senior DEI advisor, she "co-facilitated more than 20 racial equity listening sessions, developed meaningful forums for sharing the organization’s workforce assessment survey findings, and worked collaboratively to create two employee resource groups – one to support employees who identify as Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) and the other to support employees who identify as LGBTQ+. She also co-led numerous education sessions on racial humility and equity for employees and leadership, creating a safe space for employees to talk about these sensitive issues in new ways."
  • The College of Medicine’s Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion has a Pipeline/Pathway Task Force.
Anti-Racism, Bias, and Diversity Training
  • The school states that the Pediatric Faculty and the Pediatric Residency Program have each expressed a commitment to DEI initiatives, and that, “in addition to teaching sessions focused throughout the year, we ensure that all didactic teaching sessions include at least one aspect on how health disparities and inequities relate to the topic.”
Curriculum Changes and Requirements
  • The school's Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion outlines its "Finding Our Common Ground" curriculum which "provides a longitudinal, developmental framework that is designed to enhance the development of cultural humility skills. Knowledge of these concepts are essential to working in a diverse community, such as ours, as well as to creating and sustaining a culture of inclusive excellence."
  • On March 6, 2020, the school published an article entitled "Integrating the Social Determinants of Health into the Curriculum" and stated, "coursework on molecular genetics is paired with a Theme of the Week focused on the genetic basis of race. In PCR, students complete an implicit bias test and discuss readings related to racism in medicine. In ethics discussions, led by Lahey and Eldakar-Hein, students debate a real case that gets at some aspect of race and the role of a physician."
  • The school's Office of Student Services describes the work of the "Social Justice Coalition" which states, "we seek to build sustainable curricular and extracurricular vehicles for making social justice and cultural competency a key tenet of Larner's identity. Key accomplishments to date include major revisions to the social medicine curriculum, the creation of multiple events educating students and faculty about social determinants of health, co-creation of the anti-racism task force, deepened dialog regarding admissions equity, and beyond."
Program and Research Funding
  • Contained within the school is The Health Disparities and Cultural Competence group, founded in 2015 with an express mission to "advocate for health equity in the state and nationally, and ensure all communities have equitable access to opportunities in housing, education, employment, health care, and supports within social contexts."
Resources
  • The school has numerous anti-racism resources, including "How to Be an Anti-Racist" by Ibram X. Kendi.
  • The school's blog contains a section dedicated to discussing the topics of "race and racism" and "implicit bias."
  • The UVM Larner College of Medicine has a Social Justice Coalition, which "works to advance social justice and equity" in medical education and healthcare.
  • On April 12, 2021, students of the school wrote an article for the "Med Blog" titled "Dismantling Systemic Racism: Reflections on Medical Apartheid" and stated, "A radical change in medical education must occur. Education on racism and the history of racism in medicine should not be ancillary, but rather a core aspect of curriculum. Medicine and racism in America have been interwoven for centuries, and the consequences of that intersectionality are readily seen today."
  • In the summer of 2020, the school's students worked with then-Interim Assistant Dean for Students (Prema Menon, M.D., Ph.D.) to create the "Race Dialogue Series" which is described as "an elective summer discussion series to allow medical students to engage in peer-to-peer dialogue on the intersection of race and medicine.”
Symbolic Actions
  • The UVM Larner College of Medicine hosted a "Voices of the College: Diversity, Equity and Inclusion" Zoom, where various faculty, staff and medical students addressed the importance of DEI within the institution.
  • Vermont's Seven Days newspaper wrote an article about diversity at UVM College of Medicine. In the article, it highlighted the comments of Elizabeth Bonney, a black professor at the medical school. Bonney believes that while the college has made "some strides in recruiting minorities," she thinks it's "just as important to cultivate an inclusive environment so [UVM] students can be successful." Bonney states that "the critical problem, which is a conflict between white and male supremacy and the quest for justice, equality and self-determination, has continued to exist...It continues in academic medicine and science at some level."
  • On June 9, 2023, the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and College hosted “a virtual Town Hall and 5-year report on progress toward the goals in the 2018-2023 DEI Strategic Plan” in order to discuss “our aspirations for how we will promote accountability in upcoming DEI goals and initiatives.”
  • The school has an AAMC Diversity, Inclusion, Culture and Equity Inventory (DICE) Implementation Team since the College of Medicine is “participating in a collective administration of the Diversity, Inclusion, Culture and Equity (DICE) Inventory.”
  • On October 30, 2023, the University of Vermont, the Larner College of Medicine, the College of Nursing and Health Sciences and the University of Vermont Health Network are collectively hosting the 2023 Health Equity Summit, where “participants will join an interactive dialogue focusing on health equity, health disparities and health innovation by exploring keynote presentations and panel discussions by top DEI experts and leaders.”
Last updated December 6th, 2023
©2024 Critical Race Training in Education. All rights reserved.