Diversity

Mission

The goal of DiversifiED, the Department of Emergency Medicine’s Diversity committee, is to foster and enhance awareness and sensitivity of diversity, inclusiveness, and belonging for all clinical and non-clinical providers through education, collaboration, and outreach.

Our mission is carried out through four pillars of practice: Education, Recruitment, Mentorship, Outreach.

Education

DiversifiED invites all ED staff to attend academic initiatives and town halls that introduce philosophies of diversity and inclusion, engage participants in impactful discussion, and focus on targeted themes such as: cultural history and awareness, recognizing implicit bias, social justice, and anti-racism. Our meetings include invited guest speakers, creative narrative medicine sessions, and interactive seminars to promote the spirit of inclusivity, engender team approaches to healthcare, and heighten awareness of diversity in the ED, as it may relate to staff relations and patient care.

The growth of our Department reflects Weill Cornell Medicine’s and NewYork-Presbyterian’s mission to promotes a culture of diversity and inclusion, and to foster a supportive environment grounded in sensitivity and humility.

Recruitment

DiversifiED and the Department of Emergency Medicine are deeply committed to recruiting exceptional providers that reflect the rich diversity of the community we serve. We work diligently to enhance the broad recruitment of faculty, graduate medical trainees, and staff from underrepresented and diverse backgrounds. Our stated values must reflect our practiced efforts to expand and promote the advancement of diversity in all aspects of growth.

Mentorship and Outreach

We strive to achieve our mission by supporting the medical school pipeline for students who are traditionally underrepresented in medicine (URIM). Many summer programs intended to provide premedical students a clinical learning experience were disrupted by COVID–19. We developed the DiversifiED Summer Apprenticeship Program (D.S.A.P.) to close the gap for these students and provide a premedical mentorship program targeting under-represented youth. D.S.A.P. consists of one-on-one mentorship between a student and a faculty mentor offering guidance to navigate the medical school process. Panel presentations supplemented the curriculum with discussion on areas such as women in medicine, leadership, simulation education, and a medical student panel with URIM Weill Cornell medical students sharing their path. For more information, please contact Jane Torres-Lavoro at jat2033@med.cornell.edu.

DiversifiED also partnered with a local community organization to deliver a virtual Medical Career Day for New York City high school students. Through our mentorship and pipeline initiatives, we strive to ensure the growth of future leaders and medical professionals of diverse backgrounds.

Our commitment to diversity and inclusion goes beyond a cursory statement. We strive to foster an environment for all of our diverse physician and non-physician members to succeed, advance their career, attain success, and achieve a sense of pride and accomplishment, that will ultimately confer world-class clinical care to their patients.

Learn more about our DiversifiED Summer Apprenticeship Program (DSAP) 2024 here.