Action Plan 3: Equip Medical Schools and Teaching Hospitals and Health Systems to Become More Inclusive, Equitable Organizations

To accelerate discovery and improve health, academic medicine needs equitable and inclusive environments in which all faculty, staff, administrators, and learners feel welcome, safe, and valued.

Yet women and members of marginalized groups face systemic problems such as racism, bias, harassment, disrespect, and isolation. This action plan seeks to create more inclusive, equitable environments in medical schools and teaching hospitals, so they can better attract and advance a diverse workforce and improve the health of all people.

We’re taking a multifaceted approach to understanding and improving the experiences of learners, faculty, and staff in learning and workplace environments:

• In 2022, we completed a national study in partnership with the AAMC Council of Deans (COD) assessing diversity, equity, and inclusion in medical schools. The AAMC COD explored concrete actions that leaders can take to advance DEI at their institutions and established the COD Collective Action Initiative on Advancing DEI. This initiative provided an opportunity to help medical schools improve their climate and culture through the collective administration of the AAMC’s Diversity, Inclusion, Culture, and Equity (DICE) Inventory. A new report, The Power of Collective Action: Assessing and Advancing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Efforts at AAMC Medical Schools, details the results of the 101 AAMC-member medical schools that completed the DICE Inventory (use the “add to cart” or “quick download” feature when downloading this free report).
• We’re creating tools and resources to help members address systemic racism and advance gender equity, including the Diversity, Inclusion, Culture, and Equity (DICE) Inventory and the Foundational Principles of Inclusion Excellence (FPIE) Toolkit, and developing a roadmap of all of our culture and climate and health equity assessment tools, including StandPoint Surveys, , and the Health Equity Inventory.
• We’re undertaking research and scholarship to help member institutions assess and understand organizational performance in inclusion, including releasing a data snapshot on Childcare Offerings of U.S. Medical Schools During the COVID-19 Pandemic and a report, Understanding and Addressing Sexual Harassment in Academic Medicine.
• We’re creating educational tools and informational resources to expand knowledge on inclusion and create equity-minded leaders and institutions, such as the completed webinar series within the Women of Color Initiative, Women Faculty of Color Toolkits, the Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Anti-racism (IDEAS) Learning Series, and a collection of anti-racism resources.
• We’re crafting training and leadership development to create more inclusive leaders in academic medicine, such as the Restorative Justice in Academic Medicine Facilitator Training.
• We’ve awarded grants to five medical schools advancing racial equity as part of the AAMC Nurturing Experiences for Tomorrow’s Community Leaders (NEXT) Grant. This two-year funding cycle supports the development or enhancement of learning opportunities for medical students, residents, and other interprofessional learners that seek to confront racism and advance health equity with community partners.

We continue to build a holistic approach to address the cultural, behavioral, and systemic changes needed to advance equity, diversity, and inclusion in academic medicine. In the next months, look for the following tools, training, and resources:

• Upcoming webinars in the  IDEAS Learning Series.
• New research on Black men in medicine.
• New Tool: Continuum on Advancing Racial Equity in Academic Medicine.
• Restorative Justice in Academic Medicine Facilitator Training in February and August 2024.

There are multiple ways to get involved:

• Use the DICE Inventory, FPIE Toolkit, StandPoint Surveys, Diversity Engagement Survey (DES), and Health Equity Inventory within your institution.
• Join us on Feb. 22 for the next IDEAS webinar on tapping internal capacity for restorative justice, and later this spring for a series on increasing accessibility and the representation of people with disabilities in academic medicine.