Diversity in medicine is not simply important in theory. Lives depend on it. Teams that are racially, ethnically, gender, and orientation diverse are best equipped to provide cross-culturally competent care, engage patients in their healthcare management, improve diagnostic accuracy, and improve healthcare outcomes. Diversity within medical education enhances the training experience and improves learner satisfaction. Inclusive teams that value the contributions of all members demonstrate enhanced problem solving and innovation. Simply, diversity and inclusion are essential to our core mission of training excellence and to providing the best possible patient care.

Within our residency program, we continually work to refine our recruitment efforts to ensure a holistic review of every applicant and to extinguish any implicit biases throughout the application and recruitment process. We are committed to supporting our current trainees through mentorship and community. We strive to be an anti-racist program working towards equity for trainees and patients alike.

Mission Statement

The Internal Medicine residency program is committed to diversity, inclusion, and equity by fostering a culture that values differences and similarities. We strive to embrace diversity in all its forms to provide an environment where everyone can reach their full potential while delivering the highest quality in patient care, biomedical research, and training of health professionals. We believe one of the best ways to achieve this is by fostering a workforce that is both culturally diverse and actively working towards equity. As a residency family made up of different backgrounds, we know each of our residents brings a unique voice and set of experiences that enriches our conversations, strengthens our awareness, and helps us grow as physicians and leaders. Together, we share a common goal of reducing systemic biases affecting our patients.

"Inclusivity means not ‘just we’re allowed to be there,’ but we are valued. I’ve always said: smart teams will do amazing things, but truly diverse teams will do impossible things."
Claudia Brind-Woody

Action Plan

We will elevate the cause, making anti-racism efforts our very foundation.
We will engage our faculty, staff, students, patients and communities with opportunities to learn and participate in anti-racism efforts.
We will equip our team members with tools, resources and channels to report issues, suggest ideas and move us forward.
We will empower our faculty, staff, students and patients to address racism and to understand that change does not happen without all of us.
We will evaluate and review our efforts regularly.
We condemn racism in all its forms.

We pledge to be intentional in our words and our actions to dismantle systemic and structural racism and to continue to educate and inform our trainees to be better and to do better in interactions with their fellow human beings!

Anti-racism Action Plan
Anti-Racism Initiatives

Education

DEI Curriculum

Throughout the year, residents are exposed to lectures and case-based series regarding diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). This resident-developed curriculum has been expanded over the last several years to be included in the residency weekly didactic curriculum and complements our social determinate of health (SDH) curriculum. Conferences highlight the importance of recognizing and mitigating implicit bias and systemic racism. This challenges our residents to not only transform their practice to improve patient care, but also to continually improve our training environment through faculty-led discussion and reflection.

Medical center and College of Medicine recognition

• #4 on Forbes list of Best Employers for Diversity in the U.S.
• Named an HRC Healthcare Equality Index Leader for three consecutive years
• #4 ranking for percentage of African-American medical students at a non-Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU)
• INSIGHT into Diversity, the oldest and largest diversity-focused publication in higher education, recognized Ohio State’s College of Medicine with the 2019 Health Professions Higher Education Excellence in Diversity (HEED) Award

• Columbus has a large LGBTQ+ population, ranking in the top 20 for highest population based on national surveys
• Columbus has received the highest possible score for eight years running on the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s Municipal Equality Index (MEI), the only nationwide rating system of LGBTQ inclusion on municipal law and policy.
• The Municipal Equality Index (MEI) quoted, "Columbus is a national leader for LGBTQ Equality."
• Historically gay neighborhoods include German Village, Short North, Italian Village, Victorian Village and Merion Village
• TransOhio and City of Columbus Ohio LGBTQ Health Initiative has several identified “pride providers,” who are culturally sensitive and trained specifically for providing care for LGBTQ patients
• Stonewall Columbus, Columbus Urban Pride, and Kaleidoscope Youth Center are a few among many organizations committed to supporting activism in our community
• With well over a ½ million participants, Columbus is the proud host of one of the largest Pride Parade in the Midwest!
• One of the Most Exciting LGBTQ-Friendly Travel Destinations in the World –Expedia (2018)