Promoting Belonging, Equity & Advocacy

We established our Belonging and Equity (BE) Committee in 2020, which is composed of residents, faculty and staff. The vision of the BE Committee is to foster a clinic culture in which patients, staff, faculty and residents are respected through the multiple lenses of status, race, culture, ability, age, gender identity and sexual orientation. We aim to achieve this through active learning, skill development, outreach, advocacy, and resource sharing that allows us to broaden our understanding of the complexity of how these various identities promote providing and receiving quality healthcare.

Our Residency BE Committee has organized 3 general areas of focus through which we aim to integrate a BE lens to a variety of aspects of our Residency Program. The 3 areas and some example initiatives are:  

Education and Training 

  1. Speakers series to discuss issues specific to ideal communication techniques to foster productive relationships in medical practice (patient/provider; resident/faculty; among staff, etc).
  2. Coordination of Faculty Development session(s) focused on topics of belonging and inclusion
  3. Regularly scheduled discussions during resident didactics for sharing of experiences and development of skills to recognize impact of “isms” and how to respond.
  4. Integration of online modules on social determinants of health, bias, and advocacy into Vulnerable Population Health rotation (PGY1 and PGY3). 
  5. BE Committee Lead Faculty completing UCSF Diversity Champion training. 
  6. Training on language equity and working with interpreters.

Outreach

  1. Scholarships for Sub-I internships
  2. Yearly bias training prior to interview season.

Clinical Practice and Community Engagement 

  1. Collaborating with the Health System's Office of Belonging & Equity on Quality Improvement projects focused on health disparities.  
  2. Participation in our Mobile Health Clinic for outreach to underserved areas and vulnerable populations.  
  3. Participation in CLIMB, our near-peer mentorship program. 
  4. On the ground community partnerships for health education and outreach.

 Office of Belonging and Equity 

As a health system, John Muir Health strives to be a leading health system by improving diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging policies and practices. Click here to learn more about their work and resources.