Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Antiracism (IDEA) Taskforce

 “Our department is dedicated to creating and sustaining an inclusive community where members feel welcomed and valued. We are committed to supporting equitable opportunities, experiences and outcomes for all members and patients. This taskforce will educate, evaluate and recommend actions to be taken by our department to promote diversity, racial equity and social justice.”

Through educative opportunities, the IDEA Committee hopes to accomplish the following:

• Engage department members to learn from others’ experiences
• Learn from other departments and their efforts by inviting subject-matter experts to speak, and networking with others doing similar efforts in the community
• Present topics in the Cultural Complications curriculum during Grand Rounds to include implicit bias and stereotype threats
• Offer implicit bias training to all faculty
• Analyzing patient care practices to detect bias
• Continue offering book discussion opportunities to the department:
  • 60 copies of the book “White Fragility” by Robin DiAngelo provided by the department to members interested in reading and discussion
  • Small groups discussions of “White Fragility” held with 20-30 participants with positive feedback and request for further opportunities for similar conversations
  • “How to be an Antiracist” by Ibram X. Kendi was similarly made available to all interested department members and small group discussions were held.

The IDEA committee is also looking into the following potential projects:

• Analysis of resident recruitment data underway for 2021 and future classes to look for any evidence of systematic differences in medical students that apply to us (that is, is our program attractive to all candidates, or, is our program unappealing to certain candidates, any bias in those we offer interviews to, and any bias in those we offer residency positions to. We will use data in ERAS and compare to ACGME provided data
• Analysis of the provision of pain relief to laboring women to assess ensure equal access to treatments for all patients
• Plans to analyze pain medicine practice to ensure equal access to treatments for all patients