focus areas
resources
Building Pathways
IU School of Medicine can build diverse trainee and faculty pathways by assessing current recruiting touchpoints, processes, and programs to identify opportunities for building stronger connections with diverse groups within and outside the school.
Recruitment
DEIJ recruitment strategies should feature a holistic approach and flexible, highly individualized process that provides balanced consideration of a candidate’s experiences, attributes, and academic accomplishments.
ACGME Holistic Recruitment Toolkit
This toolkit, created in collaboration with the Association of American Medical Colleges, is designed to assist programs in creating admissions/selection processes that consider the “whole” applicant, rather than focusing on any one factor. CME credit is available.
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Inclusive Practices for GME Recruitment and 10-Step Inclusive Recruitment Checklist
IU School of Medicine's Graduate Medical Education and the Center for Inclusive Excellence created this module to provide you with inclusive practices for the recruitment of residents and fellows in graduate medical education. These steps are by no means comprehensive; however, they will serve as a good starting point for your program's journey towards inclusive and intentional practices. Actively engaging in this module, along with employing these inclusive practices in your recruitment processes, is one conscious step toward and committing to the school's mission and core values.
Please note: some links to documents found in the checklist below have been restricted for IU School of Medicine staff use only.
Checklist Outline
All faculty members involved in recruitment and evaluations of GME trainees should participate in annual training on microaggressions, stereotype threat, and other biases and challenges that disadvantage all applicants especially those who are from historically underrepresented in medicine backgrounds.
To maximize success, program leadership needs to prioritize a culture of diversity and inclusions. The AAMC 4-step process (reflective questions; data collection; synthesis and analysis, leverage findings) is one approach to prioritizing diversity. The steps below will help with setting diversity as a priority:
- List diversity as a priority on your program's website (or use the GME DEIJ Mission Statement)
- Ensure the images on your program's website are diverse
- Link your program's website to the GME Diversity website which displays the GME Diversity Framework
- Share your program's diversity data on your website or during the interview process
- Become familiar with DEIJ initiatives/offerings within IU School of Medicine, GME and the GME DEIJ toolkit so you can respond to DEIJ questions from applicants and others
An inclusive recruitment effort requires that programs participate in year-round recruitment efforts to seek out applicants from historically underrepresented in medicine backgrounds.
- See resources listed in the "Building Pathways" section above
- Student National Medical Association (SNMA)
- Latino Medical Student Association (LMSA)
- Howard University College of Medicine - Annual Residency Fair
- DEIJ Open House for Residency and Fellowship Applicants
The GME diversity committee recommends a holistic approach to reviewing all residency applicants starting with using mission aligned ERAS filters that emphasize the attributes, experiences, background, and resilience of the applicant and help programs cast a wider net for a more diverse applicant pool.
A holistic approach involves using the Experiences, Attributes, Competencies, and Metrics (EACM) Model for reviewing applicants.
AAMC Holistic Review Primer for Program Directors
These AAMC tools and resources provide an overview of holistic review in residency selection. This primer and these videos are designed to quickly help program directors: 1) review the criteria you are prioritizing and 2) define and assess if your materials and processes reflect your priorities.
Programs should use structured interviews that incorporate behavioral and situational questions and rubrics for interview evaluation.
Programs should employ interview day "dos and don'ts" (see OB-GYN and Pediatrics examples) and best practices, which include focusing on environment, spaces, interactions, behavior, names, pronouns, highlighting DEIJ efforts, and preparing interview materials for applicants.
Programs must ensure that the rank selection committee includes members from diverse backgrounds who have done training in implicit bias. Groups that may have less implicit bias include but not limited to residents, younger faculty, women, URiM faculty, among others.
To track your success, programs are encouraged to track the demographic data/diversity of their trainee workforce to help inform the program's inclusive recruitment strategies.
Focusing on recruitment without addressing the culture and the clinical learning environment will hinder the program’s retention efforts. Trainees, especially those from historically underrepresented in medicine backgrounds, experience discrimination, microaggressions, and stereotype threats leading to burnout, depression, and possible attrition. It is important to have programs in place to support all residents in the areas of board preparation, career mentoring, research mentoring, and guidance on professional identity formation. Faculty need to be trained on bias mitigation, cultural humility, upstander intervention, allyship training, and mentoring across difference.
Retention & Mentoring
DEIJ retention and mentoring programs help grow and retain talent, leverage leaders, and create a learning culture. Mentoring is critical to the retention of trainees and faculty from underrepresented backgrounds - it benefits both protégé and mentor.
Faculty Affairs and Professional Development (FAPD)
FAPD seeks to develop a vibrant, diverse community where each faculty member has the optimal capability to make meaningful contributions to their career goals and the institution’s mission. FAPD programs include the following:
Promotion and Tenure for Underrepresented in Medicine Faculty and Women - this annual event is organized by FAPD to promote in rank underrepresented minorities and women faculty.
Professional development and leadership development opportunities for Underrepresented in Medicine faculty and women - FAPD sponsors faculty for the following professional and leadership development opportunities:
- AAMC Early Career Women Faculty Leadership Development Seminar
- AAMC Mid-Career Women Faculty Leadership Development Seminar
- AAMC Minority Faculty Leadership Development Seminar
- AAMC Minority Mid-Career Faculty Leadership Development
- Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine (ELAM)
Getting Started with Representational Diversity
Videos
Mitigating bias in the admissions process
Using holistic principles to identify the applicants you desire for your program
Holistic principles in resident selection – an introduction
Application of holistic principles in resident selection