Ayana Jordan, MD, PhD, regularly attended the Student National Medical Association (SNMA) conference when she was a medical student.
This year, the Yale Psychiatry fellow will instead go with her recruiter’s hat on to promote the Yale Department of Psychiatry and Yale-New Haven Hospital to potential trainees.
SNMA is the oldest and largest organization for medical students of color. Its five-day conference will be held in Austin, Texas, beginning March 23.
Jordan has attended the conference as a medical student, but this year she said her mission will be to “recruit excellent medical students of color to consider training at Yale, highlighting Yale's dedication to ensuring supportive, diverse working environments for all trainees.”
She said she will promote recent psychiatry department initiatives, such as the appointment last year of a Diversity Task Force, which last month released a report with recommendations its members say will improve the department’s culture of support.
Jordan is one of the co-founders of the Yale Minority Housestaff Organization, which supports minorities throughout the Yale-New Haven Hospital system. Members include medical residents, fellows, and other healthcare trainees.
Each year the organization sends minority trainees across specialties to the SNMA conference to recruit for Yale. Also attending the conference this year are Thomas Balcezak, MD, MPH, the hospital’s chief medical officer; Rosemarie Fisher, MD, professor of medicine and associate dean of graduate medical education; Keith Churchwell, MD, hospital vice president and executive director of Heart and Vascular Services; and Dirk Johnson, MD, assistant professor of surgery.