ISSUES OF RACE AND GENDER

Minority Faculty (2.2/4)

Student Concerns: The report called upon the medical school to make more of an effort to recruit minority faculty.

Response: In response to our own conclusion that Brown has an inadequately diverse faculty, a task force to improve recruitment of underrepresented minority members to our faculty has been formed. Dean Sharon Rounds, MD serves as the chair. The membership will include administrators, the dean, faculty, two residents, and two medical students. The task force membership will be finalized and a meeting will be held in the late spring to establish the specific purpose, charge, goals, and timeline for the task force.

Baseline data will be gathered from Brown residency directors and department chairs regarding their plans and approaches to increase diversity among the house staff and faculty. The topic of workforce diversity will be included on the agendas of GME and Council of Clinical Chairs meetings. Current faculty from diverse backgrounds will be surveyed regarding any issues, concerns, or suggestions. A minority faculty reception and discussion will be held at the Faculty Club in April to promote dialogue with the medical school.

Curriculum (2.7/4):

Student Concerns: Students expressed mixed opinions on the need for greater emphasis of the influence of race, ethnicity, and culture on health and health care in the curriculum.

Response: Prior to the publication of the Medical Student Senate report, Dean Smith conducted a survey of faculty on the inclusion of cultural diversity in response to the Visiting Committee on Diversity’s report to the university. The results of the survey indicated that little formal time was devoted to these issues in the planned curriculum, but considerable more teaching and learning occurred in the informal curriculum, including clinical teaching situations. In a national survey Brown medical students reported higher levels of confidence in their ability to practice in a culturally competent fashion than did other medical students. Brown students also performed well on OSCE stations designed to assess competence in multicultural medicine.

The results of this survey were shared with the Committee on Multiculturalism with the expectation that the committee would study the issue further and make specific recommendations to the dean. The committee has developed a draft of a medical student survey on diversity issues in the curriculum. The goal of the survey is to gather students’ perspectives about how well the medical school curriculum addresses issues of diversity, and how well the curriculum prepares them to work with patients from different backgrounds. The student survey will be revised and piloted prior to administration this spring. A final report from the committee should be ready by the end of the semester or early in the fall semester.

Female Faculty (2.8/4):

Student Concerns: Students thought that more of an effort should be made to recruit female faculty. The report suggested that more female physicians be recruited to serve as course directors during the second year.

Response: The medical school administration is in full agreement with the Medical Student Senate that efforts should be made to recruit women medical faculty not only to serve as course directors for the second year medical school curriculum, but at all levels. The national problem, which exists to some extent at Brown as well, is the lack of women in leadership positions in academic medicine. This is a problem the dean is committed to solving.

Women faculty currently comprise nearly 30% of full-time medical school faculty at Brown. While faculty hiring and teaching responsibilities fall under the formal purview of each department, the Office of Faculty Affairs, the Office of Curriculum Affairs, and the Office of Women in Medicine (OWM) need to work with the departments in the process of searching for and hiring new faculty to further the goal of increasing the number and teaching role of women medical faculty.

A high priority for the OWM is to create a more visible female faculty cohort for medical students and for networking among faculty and medical students. For the past several years the OWM has offered a number of successful programs designed to achieve this goal.

Gender Discrimination (2.9/4):

Student Concerns: Students noted that gender discrimination still occurred in the clerkships. The report suggested that resources be clearly identified for students who feel that they have suffered from gender discrimination, that clerkship directors be encouraged to discuss gender discrimination with hospital house staff before students arrive on the clerkship, and that clerkship directors be encouraged to collect feedback from students regarding any discrimination they may have experiences during a clerkship.

Response: In the spring of 1994, the OWM surveyed Brown medical students regarding their experiences with gender bias and sexual harassment in medical school. In general, students’ primary concerns were clustered in the area of what has been termed “micro-inequities” defined as “the common experience of being ignored or having lower expectations for success because of gender; e.g. women having comments ignored while the same comments by male peers are acknowledged. Also, gender-biased language, off-color remarks and sexually related jokes were noted. Students indicated that they often discussed their concerns with their peers and chose not to speak to faculty or administration for fear of retaliation or being labeled as a troublemaker.

The booklet, “Preventing and Responding to Sexual Harassment and Sexual Assault, A Guide for Medical Students,” was published in 1996 in response, and was well received both at Brown and nationally. Locally it was distributed to medical students, residents, faculty, and the administration. The guide is currently being revised.

As a next step, the OWM enlisted Dr. Patricia Recupero and Dr. Alison Heru of the Brown faculty to serve as independent, confidential resources for medical students seeking support and counsel on gender equity and sexual harassment. They offer educational programs for medical students on gender equity issues in medical school. Other medical faculty contacts and university procedures for reporting any incidents in these areas are listed in the Student Affairs Policy Handbook

Each fall, the OWM distributes to medical students a description of the office’s activities and programs, the medical school’s Sexual Harassment Policy/Procedures, and the phone numbers and page number for Drs. Recupero and Heru. Drs. Heru and Recupero work to encourage medical faculty in a number of different leadership positions to provide leadership to their faculty on gender equity and the prevention of harassment.