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University of Louisville School of Medicine

Medical School

Mailing Address
323 East Chestnut Street
Louisville, Kentucky 40202
Phone
(502) 852-5193
Email address
medadm@louisville.edu
School Information
"The University of Louisville School of Medicine is a vibrant institution with a proud heritage as one of the most comprehensive medical facilities in the southeastern United States. The school traces its beginnings to 1833" (Source: https://louisville.edu/medicine/about/history). The University of Louisville School of Medicine has "more than 600 medical students, 275 graduate students, and 1,000 residents" (Source: https://www.facebook.com/uoflmedschool).
General Information
The University of Louisville School of Medicine has engaged in many actions in line with diversity and anti-racism. Namely, the Endowed Excellence Fund for Diversity was established. The school is evaluating its policies and practices to ensure they are parallel to the school's diversity goals and its anti-racist agenda. See developments below:

Actions Taken

Admissions Policies
  • One of the goals of the 2020-2023 SOM Strategic Plan is to "enhance diversity" by "[increasing] the enrollment of Medical (MD) students historically underrepresented in medicine (URiM)."
Anti-Racism, Bias, and Diversity Training
  • The school published its Diversity Strategic Plan which states that "By-stander, Implicit-bias, and Micro-aggressions training is offered to staff via the SMART program."
  • The SOM 2020-2023 Strategic Plan states the following: "Incorporate SOM-wide professional development on topics that include but not limited to: antiracism, diversity, equity, inclusion, implicit bias, microaggressions, healthcare disparities, bystander/upstander, allyship, LGBTQ health and safe zone training."
  • The Health Sciences Center's Cultural Competency Workshop is "held each year in the Fall Semester for all 1st year Dental and Medical Students, as well as all Dental Hygiene and Audiology Students and Dental Residents" and "exposes students to Cultural Competency in an effort to show them that they will encounter patients that might not be like themselves."
Curriculum Changes and Requirements
  • The school published its Diversity Strategic Plan which states, "The activities that we undertake with our faculty, staff, and students in order to promote an understanding of diversity, cultural competence, and the social construction of inequality guide our curriculum and professional development."
  • The School of Medicine has a Distinction Track in Health Equity & Medical Justice which serves to “to provide professional and personal development opportunities to refine student skills and competencies as change agents for health equity using a social justice framework” which allows students to receive the DIHEMJ Certificate.
  • One of the curriculum goals for the 2020-2023 SOM Strategic Plan is described as follows: "Create anti-racism task force to assess how racism has impacted all areas of medical education and specifically, curriculum and climate at ULSOM-UME; and implement strategies to support achievement of initiatives that seek to dismantle systemic racism in medical education."
Program and Research Funding
  • Several department chairs at the University of Louisville School of Medicine established the Endowed Excellence Fund for Diversity in order to combat systemic racism and racial inequality with a “goal of $1 million targetted to bolster UofL’s Cardinal Anti-Racist Agenda.”
  • In an effort to honor the memory of Breonna Taylor, “the UofL Health Board of Directors is creating a nursing scholarship in the name of Breonna Taylor.”
  • The school's Office of Diversity and Inclusion Outreach offers "academic enrichment programs for college students underrepresented in medicine to help prepare for a future as a health care professional."
  • The school links to the Health and Social Justice Scholars Program which "provides an opportunity for professional and doctoral students to collaborate across the University of Louisville schools of Medicine, Dentistry, Nursing, and Public Health in order to produce scholarly activities related to health equity, healthcare disparities, social justice, and healthcare innovation." (The program is managed by the Health Sciences Center (HSC) Office of Diversity and Inclusion.)
  • One of the goals of the 2020-2023 SOM Strategic Plan is to "[i]ncrease diversity, equity, inclusion and antiracism program funding for the SOM Office of Community Engagement and Diversity (OCED)."
Resources
  • The Office of Community Engagement and Diversity at UofL School of Medicine “is responsible for facilitating and coordinating collaborative scholarly engagement and diversity activities within the School of Medicine.”
  • John Chenault, a long-time UofL faculty member joined the School of Medicine Undergraduate Medical Education (UME) as an associate professor and director of anti-racism initiatives where he “will support anti-racism in medical student education and lead the development, implementation, and evaluation of initiatives guided by the School of Medicine UME Anti-Racism Task Force.”
Symbolic Actions
  • The Cardinal Anti-Racism Agenda pledges to “take a stand against the systemic racism that continues to impact all of us, particularly our Black students, faculty and staff, and other stakeholders of color and from historically marginalized groups.”
  • The Health Sciences Center Office of Diversity and Inclusion at the university seeks to encourage and foster an environment of inclusiveness and equity and to “ensure their policies and practices are more equitable, inclusive, and anti-racist.”
  • The School of Medicine at the UofL received the Insight into Diversity Health Professions Higher Education Excellence in Diversity Award in 2019 for the Top Colleges for Diversity.
  • University of Louisville School of Medicine highlighted how the chief diversity office is participating in Project HEAL, a program which is “helping to bridge the gaps for children who have been historically underrepresented in healthcare by providing them early access and exposure to what a career in those fields might look like.”
  • The UofL Epilepsy Fellowship Program is "committed to providing an inclusive environment for our patients, our students, residents, fellows, and faculty" and is  "committed to UofL's Cardinal Anti-Racism agenda."
Last updated September 16th, 2024
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