Pushing Institutional Climate Change for Underrepresented Minority Students
Chris Decker, MD, and Julia Schmitt
Malika Siker, MD, MCW’s Dean of Student Diversity and Inclusion challenged our Kern Institute design team to dive into an important question: Why don’t our Underrepresented Students in Medicine (URM) apply to residency programs here at MCW?
Surveys had been conducted over the years, but the data did not reveal what was really happening with these students during their medical school years. Why did so many of these students want to leave?
At the Kern Institute, we use human-centered design to elicit stories and experiences around an issue. We crafted an exercise, coined a “design sprint,” and asked volunteer URM students to share a story from their medical school experience when they felt they didn’t belong. We paired the twenty students and, as they shared stories with each other, we captured and grouped the narratives into themes.
Gathering Input from Students, Faculty, and Staff
Next, a Kern Café was convened, titled “Cultivating a Culture of Inclusion for Underrepresented Students,” in September 2019. The session attracted approximately a hundred participants. We reviewed the results from two MCW surveys on student experiences and the design sprint findings. The surveys demonstrated that students who self-identified as being from racial/ethnic minorities felt gaps in diversity, campus-wide engagement in diversity activities, and negative differences in how they are perceived and treated on clinical rotations. The design sprint identified three themes: lack of respect, lack of support, and lack of connection.
After hearing the results, a student in the audience challenged us all: “These results are not surprising. What is the plan for the institution to change the climate?”
This challenge was supported by the rest of the audience. The combination of survey data and stories from the students made for a powerful presentation. Everyone wanted meaningful change.
Focusing Innovation on MCW’s Cultural Climate
As a result, we made “URM Student Inclusion” the theme of this year’s Transformation Ideas Initiative (TI2). This is the Kern Institute’s seed grant program – three years running – where students, staff and faculty are invited to submit ideas on how to innovate medical education.
The call for ideas went out in January 2020. Of the more than fifty ideas received, we advanced sixteen into development this academic year – fourteen of which are focused on URM student inclusion and eight of which are student-lead teams. The teams are organized into four cohorts: mentorship, implicit bias, cultural humility, and leadership/professional development.
The program kicked off with a virtual workshop on June 10, 2020, with over eighty participants excited to get started! This will be a team effort by all, evidenced by the “virtual high-five” photo from our Zoom workshop.
Next Steps
This summer, we’ll take them through workshops to help them refine and scope their project teaching and using an innovator’s mindset. The foundation of this work is empathy and a relentless pursuit of creating value in their programs, using curiosity and creating partnerships. Each team will be surrounded by experts and facilitators along the journey.
The goal is to begin the rewrite the URM student experience at MCW - and to make good on our promise to those who want to change the climate for future students.
TI2 2020 Projects:
M. Chris Decker, MD is a Professor in the MCW Department of Emergency Medicine and Chief Transformational Officer for the Froedtert & MCW Medical College Physicians. He serves as Director of the Culture and Systems Pillar of the Robert D. and Patricia E. Kern Institute for the Transformation of Medical Education.
Julia Schmitt is Program Manager of the Robert D. and Patricia E. Kern Institute for the Transformation of Medical Education. She also serves as an editor of the Transformational Times.
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