Since my last message, I have a few exciting initiatives that we are rolling out during the next month.
Upcoming Talks
Starting September 18, we will host our first monthly hybrid Equity Begins with Everyone (EBE) gathering in Boardman (or by Zoom) from 12 to 1 p.m. This gathering is the department’s at-large diversity committee meeting, which will take place on the third Monday of the calendar month with a new format. Two guest speakers will attend each month to share their experiences, challenges encountered, suggestions, aspirations, and hopes pertaining to a diverse and inclusive climate within the Department of Medicine. The speakers’ presentations will be followed by an open moderated discussion by the audience. Guest speakers will come from faculty and staff within our department. On September 18, Department Chair Gary V. Désir, MD, and Associate Director of Administration Sarah Hagans will be the guest speakers. Be sure to mark your calendars to attend. We will serve lunch so please RSVP to help us with an accurate headcount.
Also in September, I will start sharing the Office of Diversity Equity and Inclusion in Internal Medicine’s (ODEIM) Operation EBE: Equity Begins with Everyone. Operation EBE represents ODEIM’s strategic plan to foster a more diverse and inclusive Department of Medicine. I will share the plans with all the Sections within the Department of Medicine via a 50-minute presentation outlining the scope of the problem of underrepresented faculty, trainees, and staff in Medicine. It will outline the scope of the problem nationally and locally at Yale and set out objectives to improve representation within our department among faculty and staff. ODEIM will present our strategies for the next 24 months at leadership, section, and staff meetings throughout the department.
On October 26, I will give a talk entitled “Diversifying the Healthcare Workforce: From Students and Beyond” for the Yale Center for Medical Education MED Group. Stay tuned for more information on this event as we get closer.
Recruitment
The September 7 recruitment fair was a success. We had over 200 participants from Morehouse School of Medicine, Howard University College of Medicine, Meharry Medical College, and Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science. Thank you to the following YSM faculty members for helping with the event, Aba Black, Vivian Asare, Paris Butler, Harris Foster, Juan Bartolomei, Sangini Seth, Monique Rainford, Isabel Bazan, Stephen Holt, Jacquelyne Gaddy, Juan Carlos Perez Lozada, and Vanessa Cooper. A big thank you to our Yale Minority Housestaff Organization (YMHO) E-Board team that led the event. Thanks to Cat Gomez Stafford for all the outreach to the HBCU schools and administrative support. Thanks to our guest leadership speakers Darin Latimore and Michael Holmes. And last but by no means least, thanks to our GME Director Steve Huot and the GME team.
During this upcoming weekend, Yale cohorts will attend the Latino Medical Student Association National Conference in Atlanta and a recruitment fair at Meharry Medical College in Nashville. Both delegations comprise a broad representation of faculty and trainees across all the YSM and YNHH programs.
ODEIM Tools
Cayetana Navarro and I have created a DEI-related Activity Impact Calculator (AIC) to enhance academic appointments and promotions evaluations. The AIC will capture all DEI activities completed in 5 categories: a) education, b) research, scholarly activities, and creative activities, c) community engagement, d) service and leadership, and e) clinical service. The AIC can be accessed via a link. You fill in the information, and it provides a weighted DEI activity impact score. We are in the process of calibrating the impact score into very high, high, medium, etc.. I met with Larry Young, MD, on September 7, 2023 to discuss launching this within the Department of Medicine’s Appointments & Promotions process as a pilot. Our hope at ODEIM is that this tool can be applied across all YSM departments in due course.
Cayetana Navarro and I have also put the finishing touches on the first Department of Medicine Inclusive Climate Survey for all staff and faculty, that we will launch in January 2024. We look forward to receiving your feedback. This survey captures the inclusion climate at the individual, immediate work team, unit, sections, and departmental levels. It will also capture the mentorship and sponsorship experiences of staff and faculty.
Below are the secular and religious events during September:
- The Hispanic culture, history, and contributions are celebrated from September 15 – October 15 as part of Hispanic Heritage Month.
- On September 6, Shia Muslims commemorated Arbaeen, the end of the 40-day period after the Day of Ashura.
- Coptic New Year on September 11 is a feast day for Coptic Orthodox Christians.
- There are three high holidays in the Jewish religion: Rosh Hashanah (September 15 – 17), Yom Kippur (September 24 & 25), and the first night of Sukkot (September 29).
- September 19 also marks the start of Pitru Paksha, a 16-day period during which Hindus pay homage to their ancestors.
- The gender equity movement calls for all genders to “stand in solidarity with women” on September 20 as part of HeForShe day.
For this month’s “Voices of DEI,” we highlight Cayetana Navarro, MBA. “We are all different in some way; we all want a fair shot; we all want to belong. DEI is bringing all those parts of ourselves that make us unique to the table with other equally unique individuals so that the sum of our parts is greater than the whole. Whether you think it’s a cliché or an aphorism, it is true that we can accomplish more together than if we’re divided,” she said. You can read this column on the website and via social media. If you wish to participate as a featured voice of DEI, please complete the survey at this link.
I am committed to supporting and expanding DEI efforts within the Department of Internal Medicine; please join me. Equity begins with everyone.
Respectfully Yours,
Benjamin Mba, MBBS, MRCP (UK), CHCQM, FACP
Vice Chair, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
Department of Internal Medicine
Graduate Medical Education Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Yale New Haven Hospital and Yale School of Medicine