Last June, the UAB Department of Surgery established a committee on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), led by Vice Chair Colin Martin, M.D., FACS.
The mission of the committee is to understand, promote and respect diversity of background, culture, attitudes and experiences within the department to drive excellence in clinical care, research, and surgical education. On June 1, 2020 the committee was formally announced in a department message that reiterated the department’s commitment to rejecting hatred and confronting racism.
Since its establishment, the committee and its 20 members– some from departments across the UAB School of Medicine– have been hard at work on DEI initiatives. Here is a list of 2020 accomplishments:
- Establishment of the DEI vice chair role
- Issuance of a statement condemning systemic racism
- Official committee formation
- Commissioned a climate survey assessing the UAB Department of Surgery
- Hosted Senator Doug Jones for Department of Surgery Grand Rounds
- Initiated Cultural Complications morbidity and mortality learning sessions
- Rebuilt a more wholistic residency search during the 2020 recruitment season
- Established DEI onboarding messaging for new residents
- Had an active voice in Grand Rounds speaker selection
- Led communication with medical student groups
- Submitted Diversity Fair video and recipe
- Learned about and partnered with existing UAB DEI efforts
- Partnered with Department of Surgery organizations, such as Women in Surgery
As the committee approaches its one-year anniversary, work continues through the newly reconstructed subcommittees, which were streamlined to include:
- Anonymous reporting
- Retention and recruitment
- DEI education
- DEI education and recruitment for research faculty
The DEI committee looks forward to continuing to grow thriving DEI initiatives within the department in 2021, like the establishment of training and education campaigns and further building on the faculty and resident recruitment initiatives that began in 2020. If you are interested in supporting the DEI committee in 2021, please reach out to surgcomm@uabmc.edu.