What Do Underrepresented in Medicine Junior Family Medicine Faculty Value From a Faculty Development Experience?

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: While there is increased attention to underrepresented in medicine (URiM) faculty and students, little is known about what they value in faculty development experiences. METHODS: We performed a URiM-focused, 3-day family medicine faculty development program and then collected program evaluation forms. The program evaluations had open-ended questions and a reflection on the activity. We used inductive open coding using NVivo software. We analyzed open-ended responses and reflections, and identified themes. RESULTS: Seven participants provided reflections on the workshop and responses to the evaluation forms. Analysis revealed four major themes in the learners' responses and reflections: (1) personalizing learning, (2) impacting career trajectories, (3) clarifying the writing process, and (4) creating a safe place, with frequencies of 28.2%, 26.7%, 23.6%, and 20.9%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Although this faculty development experience was designed to teach writing skills to URiM junior faculty, their collective responses indicate that they found value beyond the skills taught and appreciated the approach taken in this activity.

Towards a common lexicon for equity, diversity, and inclusion work in academic medicine.

Differential rewarding of work and experience has been a longtime feature of academic medicine, resulting in a series of academic disparities. These disparities have been collectively called a cultural or minority "tax," and, when considered beyond academic medicine, exist across all departments, colleges, and schools of institutions of higher learning-from health sciences to disciplines located on university campuses outside of medicine and health. A shared language can provide opportunities for those who champion this work to pool resources for larger impacts across the institution. This article aims to catalog the terms used across academic medicine disciplines to establish a common language describing the inequities experienced by Black, Latinx, American Indian/Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander, Women, and other underrepresented people as well as queer, disabled, and other historically marginalized or excluded groups. These ideas are specific to academic medicine in the United States, although many can be used in academic medicine in other countries. The terms were selected by a team of experts in equity, diversity, and inclusion, (EDI) who are considered national thought leaders in EDI and collectively have over 100 years of scholarship and experience in this area.

Community-Informed Mobile COVID-19 Testing Model to Addressing Health Inequities.

CONTEXT: The New York City (NYC) Test & Trace Corps (Test & Trace), under New York City Health + Hospitals (NYC H+H), set out to provide universal access to COVID-19 testing. Test & Trace partnered with numerous organizations to direct mobile COVID-19 testing from concept through implementation to reduce COVID-19-related health inequities. PROGRAM: Test & Trace employs a community-informed mobile COVID-19 testing model to deliver testing to the hardest-hit, underserved communities. Community partners, uniquely knowledgeable of the residents they serve, are engaged as decision makers and operational partners in mobile COVID-19 testing delivery. IMPLEMENTATION: Through several mobile testing methods, community partners choose testing locations and tailor outreach to their community. Test & Trace assumes logistical responsibility for mobile testing but defers critical programmatic decisions and community engagement to partners. Integral to the success of this program is responsive, bidirectional communication. EVALUATION: During the reporting period of December 1, 2020, to April 30, 2021, Test & Trace's community-informed mobile COVID-19 testing model provided testing to 150351 unique patients and processed 274083 tests in total. The available outcomes data and qualitative feedback provided by community partners illustrate that this intervention, combined with robust governmental investment, successfully ensured that NYC-identified, low-resource neighborhoods had greater access to COVID-19 testing. DISCUSSION: Making community partners decision makers reduced inequities in access to testing for communities of color. In addition, the model has served as the framework for Test & Trace's community-informed mobile COVID-19 vaccination program, operated in concert with NYC's Vaccine Command Center, and is a foundation for addressing health inequities at scale, including during public health crises.

An Approach to Faculty Development for Underrepresented Minorities in Medicine.

OBJECTIVES: The diversity of the US physician workforce lags significantly behind the population, and the disparities in academic medicine are even greater, with underrepresented in medicine (URM) physicians accounting for only 6.8% of all US medical school faculty. We describe a "for URM by URM" pilot approach to faculty development for junior URM Family Medicine physicians that targets unique challenges faced by URM faculty. METHODS: A year-long fellowship was created for junior URM academic clinician faculty with funding through the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine Project Fund. Seven junior faculty applied and were accepted to participate in the fellowship, which included conference calls and an in-person workshop covering topics related to writing and career advancement. RESULTS: The workshop included a mix of prepared programming on how to move from idea to project to manuscript, as well as time for spontaneous mentorship and manuscript collaboration. Key themes that emerged included how to address the high cost of the minority tax, the need for individual passion as a pathway to success, and how to overcome imposter syndrome as a hindrance to writing. CONCLUSIONS: The "for URM by URM" approach for faculty development to promote writing skills and scholarship for junior URM Family Medicine physicians can address challenges faced by URM faculty. By using a framework that includes the mentors' lived experiences and creates a psychological safe space, we can address concerns often overlooked in traditional skills-based faculty development programs.

EMR-Based Intervention Improves Lead Screening at an Urban Family Medicine Practice.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Elevated blood lead levels have well-described detrimental effects to growth and development in children, yet screening rates remain low. We sought to determine if a reminder within the electronic health record (EHR) could change provider behavior and improve blood lead level (BLL) screening test ordering rates in an urban academic family medicine practice. METHODS: Baseline BLL test ordering rates were calculated for children ages 9-72 months. An update adding reminders to screen was made to the electronic note template used during pediatric well and sick visits at the practice. Data from the 10-week periods both before and after the change was made were compared through a retrospective chart review. RESULTS: A total of 210 children were seen during the pre-intervention period. Forty-eight percent (n=101) had already been screened. Of the 109 eligible for screening, 23 had tests ordered, and 18 of those had tests completed. Eighty-four children were eligible for screening in the post-intervention period. Forty-one of those children had tests ordered, and 15 had tests completed. Provider ordering rates increased from 21% of eligible patients to 49%. Test completion rates only increased from 17% to 18%. CONCLUSIONS: An electronic note-based reminder system significantly improves provider ordering rates of BLL tests. Researchers are currently investigating how the use of point-of-care BLL sample collection can improve test completion rates and therefore increase the frequency of successful screening.