Diversity, Equity, Inclusiveness (DEI)

To promote the department’s inclusive environment and facilitate the recruitment, retention, and career development of diverse trainees, faculty, and staff. To foster a culture centered on psychological safety, inclusion, and equity for our colleagues and patients. To promote justice and systemic change in otolaryngology training and patient care.

Our mission is to give women surgeons and their allies opportunities to exchange ideas, mentor one another and develop community.  Collectively, we aspire to break down gender barriers within the specialty and promote women in otolaryngology.  

We believe in inclusivity and equity--not only in the workplace, but in the delivery of healthcare and society at large.  

The department diversity officers are nationally recognized leaders in otolaryngology in key areas including mentorship of underrepresented groups, the “leaky pipeline” of medical training, implicit bias, psychological safety, and the relationship of healthcare and workforce equity issues with quality and value in health care.

The Otolaryngology DEI office participates in all the steps of the Academic experience from outreach to high school students and undergraduates to faculty development. Examples of current activities include:

Outreach

• Stanford Student National Medical Association (SNMA)
• Stanford University Minority Medical Alliance (SUMMA)
   

Mentoring

• Diversity, Respect, and Inclusion are Vital for Excellence (DRIVE) in Research Pipeline Award Program
• Stanford Immersion in Medical Series (SIMS)
   

Resident Selection

• DEI committee members are involved in both residency interviews and in the interview diversity mixer.
• DEI committee members are working with residency program leaders and administrators to continually improve consideration of diversity, equity, and opportunity issues in trainee selection.
   

Fellowship Selection

• The department is actively working to improve how we consider diversity, equity, and inclusion in our trainee selection processes. This includes a newly developed rubric that incorporates life "distance traveled", questions about challenges and inequities applicants have faced, and thoughtful consideration of how traditional metrics of success should be used in selection.

Faculty Recruitment

• A representative of the department DEI committee has been included in all faculty search committees since summer 2021.
• All faculty candidates will be asked a standard question about their contributions to diversity, equity, inclusion, and health care justice.
   

Faculty Development

• The DEI committee has disbursed over $15,000 in grants to support women, minority, and LGBTQ+ faculty members in pursuing  training relevant to their career development.
   

Departmental Culture

• The DEI committee has sponsored an annual departmental grand rounds relevant to our areas of activity. Our inaugural grand rounds in January 2021 will feature a panel of distinguished speakers, including Drs. David Brown, Carrie Francis, Howard Francis, and Jesus Vallejo.
• The DEI co-officers work with quality improvement leaders in the department to include equity aspects in all newly initiated improvement projects.