What is diversity about?
Darin Latimore, MD, the medical school’s Chief Diversity Officer and Deputy Dean for Diversity and Inclusion would say, “Excellence.”
WHRY’s Council of community-based advisors recently spoke with Dr. Latimore about the Yale School of Medicine’s plan to advance diversity, equity, inclusion, and a sense of belonging (DEIB). The Council’s own DEIB Committee was eager to learn about the school’s plan as WHRY initiates listening sessions on DEIB with leaders in women’s health, health care and equity from inside academia and across the region.
WHRY’s DEIB efforts and those of the medical school run in parallel to ensure women are recognized, the health of all women is studied, and sex and gender differences between and among women and men are targets of investigation. Our shared commitment to DEIB also includes providing new knowledge of practical benefit so that health and health care is advanced for all communities.
Among the medical school’s goals is recruiting and retaining an increasingly diverse faculty and student population while also initiating new programs that will ensure lasting change within the academic organization.
This work will undoubtably open doors for women and minorities in medicine and academia. For example, changes include working with recruitment firms that have demonstrated success in attracting women and other underrepresented groups in medicine and science, building stronger relationships with Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Hispanic-serving institutions, and ensuring support for the immediate pipeline of residents and fellows.
Dr. Latimore stated, “The literature is very clear that diverse groups make better, more productive organizations,” and “diversity is about excellence.”
Advancing DEIB, while recognizing those who champion its ideals, is beneficial to the medical school and its research centers. In doing so, we can ensure women, and other underrepresented groups, play a pivotal role in transcending the current limits of science and medicine.