Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

Caruso Department of Otolaryngology
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Action Committee

Committee Members

Daniel Kwon, MD	Tamara Chambers, MD	Erick Garcia, MD
Nicole Greene, AuD	Gabriel Gomez, MD	Niels Kokot, MD
Marlene Mendoza, MS	Barbara Moore, EdD	Brenda Villegas, EdD

Goals and Mission

To acknowledge the history of racial and social injustice in medicine and greater society and intentionally promote justice and diversity within our department and beyond.

Initiatives

These are some of the on-going priorities and initiatives we have been working on.

1. Education: Racism and inequality is a public health issue and we cannot be good clinicians or health care professionals without integrating this knowledge into our practice.
   a. Invited speakers for Department Ground Rounds
   b. Integration of disparities and health equity in all didactics
   c. Resident didactic lectures
   d. Journal club on health disparities, social issues in medicine, etc.
   e. DEI departmental newsletter
2. Research: An important part of understanding the problem we are combating in terms of patient care is understanding the health disparities and challenges within our own practice.
   a. Health Disparity research projects
   b. QI projects for the department workplace
   c. QI projects for health care delivery as it relates to under-served or under-represented populations
3. Community Outreach/Engagement: USC/KSOM is an institutional leader in Los Angeles and California. We will strengthen existing relationships and establish new pipelines to promote health and uplift the local community.
   a. Mentorship initiatives
   b. Establish outreach scholarship fund for summer externships, recruiting visiting students, etc.
   c. Community H&N screening programs
4. Representation/Recruitment: We have a role and responsibility as gatekeepers and leaders in our field to promote inclusion and representation within our field.
   a. Review faculty/staff recruitment criteria and practices
   b. Review faculty advancement practices
   c. Progressive residency rank criteria to promote diversity and representation
   d. Maintain mentorship and interest groups, for recruiting and retaining under-represented minorities from the community into our field

News and Updates

• Dr. Tamara Chambers is the recipient of the 2020 USC Mentoring Award for Faculty Mentoring Faculty. The award recognizes exceptional individuals who go above and beyond what is expected, fostering an engaging, supportive, and inclusive academic environment through their mentorship of colleagues, graduate and undergraduate students.
• https://keck2.usc.edu/usc-med-cor-celebrates-50-years-of-preparing-local-teens-for-college-and-health-professions/

• https://keck2.usc.edu/scenes-from-the-white-coats-for-black-lives-vigil-in-downtown-l-a/
  Click to view video of Dr. Chambers’ speech

• Special Edition JUNETEENTH Town Hall at Los Angeles General Medical Center on June 19, 2020. Click to view video

Resources

1. Within Keck School of Medicine and USC
   • A wealth of materials and activities to celebrate Pride Month are available through the USC Libraries website: https://libraries.usc.edu/pride.
   • USC Libraries and the Anti-Racist Pedagogy Organizing Committee, provides resources for developing anti-racist pedagogical strategies:  https://libguides.usc.edu/c.php?g=744325&p=5329699
   • Racism as a Patient Safety Issue: http://www.ihi.org/resources/Pages/Publications/Role-of-Racism-as-Core-Patient-Safety-Issue.aspx
   • The USC MED-COR program, which stands for Medical Counseling, Organizing, and Recruiting program, seeks to increase the pool of high school students of color committed to the pursuit of health professional careers.
2. Within Medicine and Otolaryngology
   • American Association of Medical Colleges, Diversity and Inclusion Resources and Data. https://www.aamc.org/what-we-do/mission-areas/diversity-inclusion
   • American Head and Neck Society, Myers Summer Travel Fellowship. Special program for early (M1, M2) medical students from an under-represented minority. https://www.ahns.info/myers-summer-fellowship/
   • American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery (AAO-HNS), Diversity Travel Grants for medical student away rotations and the annual Academy Meeting, https://www.entnet.org/Diversity_Grants
3. Organizations to support:
   • The National Medical Association (NMA)
   • National Hispanic Medical Association (NHMA)
   • The Association of American Indian Physicians (AAIP)
   • American Medical Women’s Association (AMWA)
   • NAACP, NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund
   • Human Rights Campaign (HRC) The largest national lesbian and gay political organization working to ensure the basic equal rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people.
   • Color of Change The nation’s largest online civil rights organization building grassroots political power for African-Americans and working for social change for all people.
   • Race Forward A public policy institute advancing racial justice through research, advocacy and journalism (it publishes Colorlines).
4. Reading Material
   • Fortune’s “Race Ahead” Newsletter, Fortune senior editor Ellen McGirt publishes a newsletter on race, culture, and inclusive leadership.
   • “How White Managers Can Respond to Anti-Black Violence,” by Michael W. Kraus, Yale Insights
   • The 1619 Project” by Nikole Hannah-Jones and the New York Times Magazine
   • How-To: Tools and Guides to Defend Black Lives
   • “Resources on Environmental Justice, Racism, and Whiteness,” Washington Environmental Council
   • Talking About Race: a resource portal from the National Museum of African-American History & Culture