Diversity and Equity News

Baylor College of Medicine's Dr. Paul Klotman talks about Baylor's response to the senseless death of George Floyd. He calls on us to reflect on what we can do individually and as a community to impact change locally and nationally.

On June 9, Scientists and Health Professionals for Black Lives hosted a public rally and march through the Texas Medical Center to shed light on systemic racism and inequality. Student leaders spoke to allies about healthcare inequity, and hundreds of trainees, researchers, faculty and staff from across the TMC marched in solidarity.

Dr. Adiaha Spinks-Franklin discussed her work traveling across the country to rain healthcare professionals to become anti-racists in an article in the PolicyWise blog.

The orthopedic workforce is not as diverse as the population it serves, and we know that this might be a key factor in addressing disparities and inequalities that affect patients’ healthcare.

Despite previous efforts to address the issue, there still remains a lack of gender and racial diversity. So what can be done to make the field more inclusive?

Dr. Melvyn Harrington, associate professor of orthopedic surgery at Baylor College of Medicine, says the key is to expose women and underrepresented minorities to the field even earlier than medical school.

Second-year medical student Chelsea Livingston was only a junior in high school when she first worked alongside Baylor College of Medicine physicians and scientists in a research lab. She discussed her experience in an article on the Momentum blog.

Undergraduate students in the Summer Medical and Research Training, or SMART Program come from a variety of disciplines to gain experience conducting biomedical research projects for 10 weeks at Baylor College of Medicine. In 2019, a third of the SMART students (34) volunteered to compete in the SMART program’s first elevator pitch competition.

In 1983, Sally K. Ride became the first American woman to travel to space with the launch of NASA’s seventh space shuttle mission.

Since then, dozens of women have followed in Ride’s footsteps. While gender equity in space travel has improved over the decades, what health challenges do women space explorers face?

In 2019, the From the Labs blog celebrated Women’s History Month with a series of posts highlighting the work of Baylor Women of Science.

The Department of Medicine and the Internal Medicine Diversity Council presented "Optimizing Care For Your LGBT Patients" from 12:15-1:15 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 5, 2019. Shane Snowden, M.A., former director of health and aging policy at Human Rights Campaign and founding the director of the Center for LGBT Health & Equity at the University of California San Francisco, was the featured speaker for Grand Rounds. She spoke on LGBT health equity and access issues as well as insights into best practices for patient interactions and clinical care for LGBT patients.

Laura Petersen, M.D., MPH, professor in medicine and chief of the health services research section at Baylor College of Medicine, answered questions at the monthly Tacos with Teachers Tuesday, Nov. 14, 2017. Dr. Petersen’s professional interests include the assessment of the influence of financing of health care services upon the quality of health care, development of state-of-the-art methods for assessing the quality of health care for cardiovascular disease, and implementing best evidence into best clinical practice.

Dr. Chester Brown, professor and division chief of genetics and St. Jude Chair of Excellence in Genetics at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, spoke about providing and maintaining leadership to promote inclusion in diverse work and training environments Thursday, Oct. 5, 2017 as part of 2017 Diversity and Inclusion Week.

When compared to their heterosexual and cisgender counterparts, the health and mental health disparities of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning* (LGBTQ)  youth are striking. Dr. Sophia Fantus discussed this in an article in the PolicyWise blog.

Janice Sabin, Ph.D., MSW, research associate professor at the University of Washington School of Medicine, facilitated two compassionate conversation sessions based on the book Blindspot: Hidden Biases of Good People (2016) Wednesday, Oct. 4 as part of Diversity and Inclusion Week 2017. The sessions explored the science of unconscious and implicit cognition and unconscious and hidden biases our students, trainees, staff and faculty experienced. Participants also discussed individual and group strategies for mitigating unconscious and hidden biases that may occur in our work, learning and personal environments.

For Baylor Diversity and Inclusion Week 2017, students, faculty and staff were invited to be filmed with a "Baylor College of Medicine Welcomes ____" sign to showcase the rich diversity and warm welcome of the Baylor community.

The welcome video is now available.

Fred Sutton, Jr., M.D., associate professor in medicine-gastroenterology and former chief of gastroenterology for 15 years at Ben Taub Hospital, spoke with students, trainees and faculty at the monthly Tacos with Teachers Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2017. Dr. Sutton described his upbringing and how helping people, not just medically, was part of his DNA. Dr. Sutton offered tips for maintaining work-life balance.

The inaugural meeting of the new Baylor College of Medicine Center of Excellence in Health Equity, Training and Research Advisory Council took place Thursday, Aug. 24, 2017. The advisory council, chaired by Jennifer Christner, M.D., dean, school of medicine, supports the work of the center by engaging institutional partners and community stakeholders; assisting the COE accomplish mission of meeting unmet needs of URM students, fellows and faculty; offering suggestions and recommendations on COE’s program policies, strategies, activities/services; providing valuable connections with community resources and social capital to advance the mission of the COE, and meeting at least quarterly.

James Walker, DNP, CRNA, associate professor of anesthesiology and allied health sciences and director of the Doctor of Nursing Practice (Nurse Anesthesia) program, spoke with students, trainees and faculty at the monthly Tacos with Teachers Tuesday, Aug. 8, 2017. He discussed his upbringing and experiences that helped lead him to become one of the most accomplished professors of nurse anesthesia in the country, including president of the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists from 2009-2010 and the 2014 recipient of the AANA Outstanding Educator of the Year award. 

BCM Pride and the Office of Community Engagement & Health Equity waved the rainbow flag at their booth at the 2017 Houston Pride Festival Saturday, June 24 in downtown Houston. See photos online. Thanks to all those who donated, BCM Pride and The Montrose Center exceeded their goal to provide street relief backpacks for 100 homeless LGBTQ+ adolescents. Baylor College of Medicine supports and celebrates LGBT+ Pride during June. Find a place to celebrate by visiting Gay Pride Calendar or Pride Houston.

Dr. Ricardo Nuila, assistant professor of medicine and in the Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy and faculty advisor for the Latino Medical Students Association, was selected as the Ralph A. Johnston Fellow in the 2017-2018 Dobie Paisano Fellowship Program, which is sponsored by the Texas Institute of Letters and The University of Texas at Austin. This highly competitive, nationally recognized fellowship gives creative fiction and non-fiction writers the opportunity to live on a ranch outside Austin and write for an extended period. His journalism on health disparities has appeared in The New Yorker and The Atlantic websites, as well as in VQR and The New England Journal of Medicine. Ricardo's fiction has appeared in Best American Short Stories, McSweeney's, and Ninth Letter. He won the inaugural New England Review Award for Emerging Writers and has attended the Bread Loaf and Sewanee Writers' Conferences as a tuition scholar.

Friday, April 21, 2017
Noon - 1:30 p.m.

Speakers:
Alexander Pastuszak, M.D., Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Department of Urology, Baylor College of Medicine
"Male Anorgasmia: From No to Go!"

Vanessa Schick, Ph.D. and J. Michael Wilkerson, Ph.D. (UT SPH)
“Preliminary Findings from Tell Us, Texas: A Needs Assessment of Sexual and Gender Minorities Living in Texas”

Host: Michael R. Kauth, Ph.D., Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Menninger Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Baylor College of Medicine
For more information: michael.kauth@va.gov or 713-440-4460

Dr. Biykem Bozkurt, professor of medicine in the section of cardiology, spoke to students, trainees and faculty at the monthly Tacos with Teachers on Tuesday, April 18, 2017 at Baylor Main Building. She discussed her personal and professional journey, including what brought her to Baylor to complete her internal medicine residency and cardiology fellowship. Dr. Bozkurt answered questions from attendees including the difference between a cardiac transplant specialist and cardiac surgeon and the challenges of maintaining balance when showing compassionate for patients without burning out in the process.

The Positive Exposure exhibition by Rick Guidotti, who uses photographs to transform public perceptions of people living with genetic, physical, intellectual and behavioral differences, was on display in the Alkek Lobby March 27 – April 3.

Student Disability Services and the Office of Community Engagement & Health Equity sponsored an educational session Wednesday, March 29, 2017 regarding access to health care and health science education as a provision of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The first session, from noon-1 p.m. in Cullen Auditorium, featured Dr. Judy Kim, assistant professor of medicine in the Transition Medicine Clinic. The presentation focused on information for clinicians and trainees regarding how to interact with individuals with disabilities and considerations to ensure full access to healthcare.

Dr. Cynthia Peacock, associate professor of medicine in the transition medicine section, spoke to students, trainees and faculty at the monthly Tacos with Teachers Tuesday, March 21, 2017. She discussed her personal and professional journey, including transitioning from a career as a nurse to completing her medical degree and combined Internal Medicine-Pediatrics residency at Baylor College of Medicine. Dr. Peacock talked about how she moved into various leadership roles in academic medicine, including residency program director, and shared her story of how the Transition Medicine Clinic at Baylor was created.

Students from The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Baylor College of Medicine, Rice University and the University of Houston, as well as members of the wider Texas Medical Center community, gathered for a peace vigil in solidarity with the Muslim community Tuesday, Feb. 7, at Webber Plaza in front of UT Houston's McGovern Medical School.

Asim Shah, M.D., professor and vice chair for Community Psychiatry in the Menninger Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, wrote an opinion article for the Feb. 1, 2017 edition of the Dallas Morning News entitled "Cultural diversity: Why we should respect other cultures". View the full article.

The Office of the Provost sponsored faculty and residents from the Internal Medicine Residency Program (including the Primary Care Track), Pediatric Residency Program (including the new Lead and Acquire: Pediatric Primary Care for Vulnerable and Underserved Populations), and Family Medicine Residency Program and staff from the Office of Community Engagement & Health Equity to represent Baylor College of Medicine at the Latino Medical Student Association - Southwest region annual conference Saturday, Jan. 28. 

All students, trainees, staff and faculty members were invited to bring lunch to the "Sexuality, Science and Sandwiches" Friday, Jan. 20, at the VA and BCM Center for Innovations in Quality, Effectiveness and Safety (IQuESt), Room 101. The purpose of this series is to establish a network of individuals who are engaged in sex research and scholarship and discuss sexuality related research across disciplines, fields, and agencies. Vanessa Cox, doctoral candidate at the UTHealth School of Public Health, presented on“Disparities in HPV prevalence between sexual minority and heterosexual women,” followed by Dr. Charlene Flash, assistant professor of medicine, discussing her research on the implementation of HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis in Houston.