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University of Kentucky College of Medicine

Medical School

Mailing Address
William R. Willard Medical Education Building
MN 150
Lexington, Kentucky 40536
Phone
(859) 323-6161
Email address
kymedap@uky.edu
School Information
"The UK College of Medicine, founded in 1960, provides an innovative, high-quality education through its nationally recognized curriculum, emphasizing early clinical experiences, continuity as a guiding principle, integration of the basic and clinical sciences, and innovative teaching and learning methods such as small-group tutorials, standardized patients, computer-assisted instruction, clinical training models, and interactive lectures and laboratory exercises." UK is one of few universities to have all six health science colleges (Medicine, Nursing, Dentistry, Pharmacy, Public Health, and Health Sciences) all on the same university campus making it well-positioned for interprofessional health care education and collaborative research" (Source: https://medicine.uky.edu/about-college). The school has over 1,000 faculty members and approximately 1,200 students.

Actions Taken

Admissions Policies
  • The strategic plan cites an intent to use an "academic medical center quality and accountability performance scorecard" which includes metrics for, among other things, equity and diversity. The plan also sets out a goal of increasing minority physicians and professors, citing a study that states, "a growing body of research indicating that ethnic differences between physicians and patients are often barriers to partnership and effective communication."
Anti-Racism, Bias, and Diversity Training
  • The College of Medicine's ODEI partnered with "subject matter experts" to create the Diversity and Inclusion Microlearning Series--video modules and pdf handouts--for the school's faculty, staff, and students.
  • On August 3, 2022, the school's News section published an article entitled "Common Read Initiative Helps First-Year UK Medical Students Navigate Implicit Bias" which reported that "Each first-year medical student this year received copies of 'Blindspot: Hidden Biases of Good People' to read over the summer." The book "challenges the notion that people fully understand their own minds enough to assess others fairly and accurately. The authors explore hidden biases, including their own based on results from the Implicit Association Test."
Curriculum Changes and Requirements
  • Beginning in the fall of 2021, the school's Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion introduced its "inclusive education curriculum for faculty, staff, and learners across the college." The curriculum is a "multi-part framework that explores issues related to diversity, equity, and inclusion by bringing together speakers, media content, and one another for a wide range of engagement opportunities."
Disciplinary Measures
  • The school's Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion published several different links to report incidents of bias and discrimination.
Program and Research Funding
  • UKCM ODEI is currently accepting requests for funding that will "aid ongoing research initiatives that support a diverse biomedical workforce." Funds can be requested for up to $5,000.
  • The College of Medicine's Center for Health Equity Transformation seeks to "conduct impactful research that has the potential to reduce well-documented health disparities." It released a statement on racism, in which it declares that "racism constitutes a public health crisis born out of the legacy of slavery and continued oppression", and that this "public health crisis" "severely [impedes] access to healthcare".
  • The school's Center for Health Equity and Transformation's (CHET) homepage outlines its many programs and initiatives to address health inequities. The Center's mission is "to foster innovative, transdisciplinary and impactful research and training to improve the health of the most vulnerable residents of Kentucky and beyond."
  • Through the Center for Health Equity Transformation, the Inclusive Postdoctoral Enrichment Program "provides support and career development for diverse postdoctoral fellows."
  • UKCOM "strives to foster a spectrum of research opportunities for a diverse pool of high school students, undergraduates, graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and faculty" through "faculty driven stairway [stairway to workforce diversity] programs."
Resources
  • The DEI office of the school seeks to "promote and maintain a diverse, equitable, and inclusive environment" while conducting research and providing education.
  • The school's Strategic Plan Scorecard states that, as of November 2022, it is 89% complete as to enganging "all forms of diversity through education, recruitment, hiring, retention, promotion, and initiatives to provide experiences that ensure inclusive excellence."
  • The school's "clinical and basic science departments, centers, and educational offices are all working to develop more inclusive and equitable practices" with "Diversity and Inclusion Ambassadors [whom] are charged with leading these efforts."
  • UKCM has a "Get Involved" page, in which it directs the school community to numerous national and university-wide DEI efforts and opportunities. National resources include a DEI training provided by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) and a "Racism and Health" page from the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC).
  • UKCM ODEI has a Diversity and Inclusion Pillar Work Group, which is "charged with enhancing all forms of diversity through education, recruitment, hiring, retention, promotion, and initiatives that provide experiences to ensure inclusive excellence."
  • With the goal of "embedding diversity, equity, and inclusion within the College of Medicine," UKCM ODEI has various program initiatives, including Black Boys and Men in Medicine (BBAMM). BBAMM is a "mentorship pipeline program for Black males from kindergarten through medical residency to address the crises of the underrepresentation of Black men in medicine."
  • UKCM's Office for Institutional Diversity has Bias Incident Support Services (BISS) and a Bias Incident Report.
  • UKCM ODEI's director compiled a list of Diversity Education Resources for the school community to reference, with sections including "Anti-Racism Toolkit and Resources", "Anti-Asian Racism Resources", "Implicit Bias", and "Women of Color and Intersectionality".
  • UK College of Medicine Department of Surgery has a DEI statement and DEI Task Force.
  • The Department of Pharmacology and Nutritional Sciences established a DPNS DEI Advancement Team "to implement strategies to keep an inclusive workplace and to plan formal and informal activities that reinforce positive interactions amongst the members of the department."
  • In Fall 2021, the College of Medicine's ODEI launched the first volume of its newsletter titled the Mosaic. The Mosaic "represents the varied lived experiences" in the college.
  • The College of Medicine's ODEI offers various affinity groups, including the Faculty of Color Network (FCN), which is an advocacy program for African American and Hispanic faculty in the College of Medicine.
  • UKCM's Behavioral Science Department has a White Coats for Black Lives Fellowship. This 18-month fellowship is awarded to qualified rising second-year medical students with the goal of "enhancing their understanding of health disparities, political and social inequalities, and healthcare inequities experienced by Blacks in the U.S."
  • On February 19, 2021, the school's Center for Health Equity Transformation (CHET) announced its undergraduate essay competition on the subject of racism and stated, "In an effort to implement programming focused on health equity and anti-racism, CHET invites students to reflect on the following quote and submit a thoughtful essay. Responses should focus on the intersection of health and justice and illustrate the importance of health equity."
Symbolic Actions
  • The school announced, "on Monday, March 21, ODEI, the Center for Graduate and Professional Diversity Initiatives, the MLK Center, and the Office of Equity, Inclusion, and Social Justice hosted the last Outside the Margins webinar for the 2021-22 school year."
  • The College of Medicine was recognized nationally for its diversity and inclusion efforts when it received the 2022 Health Professions Higher Education Excellence in Diversity (HEED) Award.
  • The Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion's Statement on Racial Justice reads in part as follows: "[We] acknowledge the existence of stereotyping, bias, discrimination, prejudice, microaggressions, and other forms of racism and xenophobia. The cost of racism, both structural and interpersonal, on the mental and physical health of racially minoritized groups is incalculable and fundamentally antithetical to the moral responsibility of health professionals."
Last updated July 22nd, 2024
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