WELCOME FROM OUR ANTI-RACISM WORKING GROUP
ABOUT THE ANTI-RACISM WORKING GROUP
The pediatric Anti-Racism Working Group formed in June of 2020
Catalyzed by our residents, it has now grown to 70+ members including Pediatric Faculty, Staff, and Trainees.
The group commits to sustaining the necessary mission to instill an anti-racist culture in our program, hospitals, and campus.
ABOUT OUR EFFORTS
We provide regular sessions on various topics including:
- Recognizing and responding to microaggressions
- Social Medicine Curriculum - Dedicated to acknowledging the historical oppression & ongoing perpetuation of racism and marginalization in healthcare
- M&Ms dedicated to discussing cultural complications
- Other workshops to address language bias in the EMR and evaluations/assessments
- Advocate for utilizing the Primary Children's Hospital (PCH) SafetyNet platform to report incidences of discrimination or inequity
In addition, our Pediatric Residency Program created and puts on a 4th Year Visiting Medical Student Elective for students who are underrepresented in medicine each year. The goal of this rotation is to provide URiM students the opportunity to experience our hospital settings, meet our trainees and faculty, as well as meet our Program Leadership. This is an annual scholarship that has been funded through Primary Children's Hospital.
On Our Approach To Diversity
- We value and are grateful for every trainee who matches here. And we strive to provide them the type of environment that enhances their learning in the safest way possible. We acknowledge that our program and our hospital has work to do to create inclusive spaces. There has been a noticeable shift for improvement from our Intermountain and Department of Pediatrics leadership. Many of our divisions are interested in holding spaces to talk about the value of diversity and addressing disparities. Our residency program is a leader in making institutional change happen. We are dedicated to our work and want to make our spaces feel more inclusive where diverse thought is cherished so that we can be better and better take care of our children and our communities.
- We’ve adopted a holistic review process of applicants, dedicated workshops and conversations towards recruitment strategies that align with the value that diversity brings. We are committed to this effort and to diversifying the thoughts and experiences represented in our program.
About Demographics In Utah
- “Utah ranks as the 34th most racially and ethnically diverse state in the nation, with 22% of the state identifying as other than non-Hispanic White. This places Utah’s racial/ethnic diversity just below Pennsylvania and above several larger states like Ohio, Indiana, Minnesota, Missouri, and Wisconsin.” One in three Utahns are expected to identify as something other than non-Hispanic White by 2060.
- We are lucky to live in an increasingly diverse city and state. SLC is home to more than 60,000 refugees from places such as Afghanistan, Myanmar, Venezuela, Syria, Iraq, Somalia, and Vietnam and has multiple well-resourced resettlement services that follow families for two-yearsBG!
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SLC is one of two places with the highest Tongan populations in the US and the 4th largest Samoan.
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Five Tribal cultures inhabit the land within the boundaries of our state: the Ute, Paiute, Northwestern Shoshone, Goshute, and Navajo Nations
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Chinese, Japanese, and Filipinos comprise more than 50% of the Asian population (followed by Vietnamese, Indian, Lao, and Thai communities). Smaller communities of Nepali, Tibetan, Bhutanese, Hmong, and Karen residents
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Salt Lake is in the top 10 of US cities for people who self-identify as gay, above LA, (~4.7% of population). Utah Pride Parade is one largest in the country and our Department Chair opens our UU Peds downtown office to employees to join in watching the parade- front row seats
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We have been working on increasing rainbow signage, pronoun pins, and advocating for inclusive intake forms. We offer LGBTQ wellness check-in and affinity groups, and are actively developing curricula to improve knowledge and patient care for LGBTQ communities
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There are several community organizations involved in elevating marginalized populations and antiracism equity work, including BLM Utah and SLC Chapters, Black Physicians of Utah (a newly founded mentorship and advocacy organization), Utah Black Chamber, Outdoor Afro – Utah (a group focused on reclaiming inclusion in outdoor spaces), and others dedicated to empowering Black and Latina youth through mentorship & education (Curly Me and Ella Rises)