DIVERSITY
A letter from our DEI Chief
After a careful assessment of effective strategies to improve our residency recruitment and retention, we’ve since created a new role: Chief Resident of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. We strive to recruit diverse residents from all backgrounds—racial, ethnic, gender and sexual identities—, and life experiences—those with disabilities or have lived with financial hardship. Our program also aims to support our diverse residents that are already here through, focus on anti-racism embedded in our culture, personalized mentorship, access to social emergency medicine and with fellowship and community building.
If you’re reading this letter as an applicant, I hope that you have questions and I hope that you won’t hesitate to ask them. I am always available by email and would love to set up a phone call to discuss the opportunities available in our program and anything else on your mind.
My vision as the DEI Chief resident is that all trainees who want to benefit from the vast resources and the incredible training we have at Brown EM as well as this wonderfully fun city, would feel comfortable being themself here.
Fahad Ali, MD
Resident Physician, PGY4
Chief Resident of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
I come from a Latinx and Asian background so trying to fit in has always been a unique feat for me. Looking at the Brown EM website as an applicant, I didn’t see a lot of faces that looked like mine but from the first person that I met on my interview day, I felt as though I fit here. The training is unmatched, the opportunities and funding seem endless, with all that the people here feel like family.
I knew that if I matched here, I would want to help bring new perspectives and people into the program and ultimately have a group of residents that would reflect the population we serve in this minority majority city. I arrived and I found overwhelming support for this goal.
DIVERSITy, equity, and inclusion
Striving for Equity in Emergency Medicine Curriculum
In August of 2023 we implemented this curriculum for all faculty and residents. Using anti-racist methodology, we are learning how our personal biases, institutions, and social structures contribute to inequitable health outcomes. In this longitudinal course our goal is to create a more equitable care environment for our patients.
Our learning Objectives Include:
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Identify and explore biases within our medical practice and their effect on patient care.
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Develop strategies to reduce the impact of our biases on clinical care.
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Identify social determinants of health specific to our local community and available resources to address them.
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Explore solutions to systemic inequities in our country and their influence on patient and societal outcomes.
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Gain the knowledge and confidence to teach others and have conversations about the social determinants of health that affect our patients.
Fellowship and Community Building
Every other month, the residents who identify as people of color are given protected time to get together, eat, share stories, and just have fun. Often times we invite faculty too! We also strive to support our residents who are members of the LGBTQ+ community and host bi-monthly dinners for them as well. We have found that providing this space is important not only for wellness but also for the betterment of our residency as a whole.
Every year we have a community service day in which we volunteer with a local organization. Additionally, our residents and faculty have begun to do street outreach and street medicine through House of Hope. This has allowed us to meet our patients where they are and build our relationship with the local community.
Our hospital is located in Providence, a majority-minority city and it largely consists of a population that is historically underrepresented in medicine. We have begun to participate in Pathway Programs through The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University. By visiting high schools, hosting SIM days, and teaching procedural skills, we hope to inspire tomorrow’s physicians and become active members in our community.
Diversity Visiting Student Scholarship
We offer a $2500 scholarship for fourth-year, URM medical students to participate in our ED sub-internship. You will work alongside and learn from residents and faculty in the emergency department, receive mentorship, and learn all about Brown EM and how you could fit in here. For more information follow the link below:
Anti-Racism Curriculum and DARE
DARE = Discussing Anti-Racism and Equity
This is an educational intervention aimed at emergency medicine frontline providers. It includes conferences, lectures, simulation, book club, film screenings, and equity-based morbidity and mortality presentations all centered around enhancing the knowledge of our residents and faculty. There is also ample opportunity to get involved in many research projects that strive to learn more about the lack of equity in healthcare and improve it.
Anti-Racism Book Club
Throughout the year, we gather as residents and faculty to discuss books that take on different perspectives on anti-racism. The goal is to spark discussion and to become vessels for change in the department. The books are always paid for by the department and provided to participants whether you can attend the meetings or not.
