Tag Archives: Diversity Equity and Inclusion

School of Medicine receives 2022 award for excellence in diversity

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INSIGHT into Diversity, the oldest and largest diversity publication for higher education, has recognized the UMKC School of Medicine with its Health Professions Higher Education Excellence in Diversity award for the second time in four years.

One of only two schools in Missouri to receive this year’s national honor, the School of Medicine also received the award in 2018.

“We are proud of the work at our SOM that allowed us to be recognized with the 2022 HEED award,” School of Medicine Dean Mary Anne Jackson said. “Our DEI efforts are made possible through not only the passion and commitment of our staff and faculty who lead initiatives, programs, and outreach, but we see these efforts translate to a positive impact on student recruitment, retention, completion and ultimately to benefit the health and welfare within our community and beyond.”

INSIGHT Into Diversity selected the School of Medicine for its efforts supporting diversity, equity and inclusion. Among those are new programs such as UNITED (Uniting Numerous Medical Trainees in Equity and Diversity), a program to support resident and fellowship trainees, an anti-racism and cultural bias program for medical students, a summer success seminar series for incoming B.A.-M.D. students, and expansion of the school’s successful STAHR (Students in Training, Academia, Research and Health) program.

The school’s Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion has also received an increase in its budget to support programming and initiatives, has added an assistant dean to the office, and has been an active part of a care team for students in academic risk as well as admissions and selection committees for the school’s academic programs.

Dean Jackson praised her staff.

“Congratulations to Dr. Tyler Smith and Ms. Doris Agwu, our associate and assistant dean respectively, Drs. Ayanda Chakawa and Wail Hassan, who lead our Diversity Council, and all of the staff and faculty who work tirelessly to envision, promote and expand the DEI footprint at our medical school,” she said.

Smith said, “We are honored and humbled. Receiving the HEED Award recognizes our programs and initiatives that embrace the medical school’s mission towards creating a diverse, equitable and inclusive culture within the learning and clinical environments for graduate and medical students, residents, fellows, faculty, and staff. As a top priority at UMKC School of Medicine, we strive to infuse DEI into all academic units while ensuring that all identities feel seen, heard, valued and respected.”

The School of Medicine, as well as 64 other recipients, will be featured in the December 2022 issue of INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine. A.T. Still University College of Graduate Health Sciences, an osteopathic medical school with a campus in Kirksville, is the only other Missouri college to receive this year’s honor.

UMKC received the HEED Award in 2019 and the UMKC School of Dentistry received the award for health professions schools in 2016.

“The Health Professions HEED Award process consists of a comprehensive and rigorous application that includes questions relating to the recruitment and retention of students and employees — and best practices for both — continued leadership support for diversity, and other aspects of campus diversity and inclusion,” said Lenore Pearlstein, publisher of INSIGHT Into Diversity. “We take a detailed approach to reviewing each application in deciding who will be named a Health Professions HEED Award recipient. Our standards are high, and we look for schools where diversity and inclusion are woven into the work being done every day across their campus.”

SOM’s Nwankwo receives AMA Foundation scholarship

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Christy Nwankwo, a sixth year medical student at the UMKC School of Medicine, has received a 2022 American Medical Association Foundation Underrepresented in Medicine Physicians of Tomorrow Scholarship.

Nwankwo has been active at the School of Medicine in community involvement and advocacy. She has served in leadership roles with the Student National Medical Association as well as serving as clinic manager for the school’s Sojourner Health Clinic and the Kansas City Free Eye Clinic.

She has also taken on mentorship roles that include founding an organization to encourage high school students to consider a career in medicine. Nwankwo is active in research that explores dermatologic concerns for persons of color.

The AMA Foundation award is given to African American, Latinx/Hispanic, or Native American/Native Hawaiian/Alaska Native students who have demonstrated a dedication to serving vulnerable or underserved populations.

The Physicians of Tomorrow Scholarship program provides tuition assistance to medical students in their final year of school. Since 1950, the program has awarded more $61 million in scholarships to medical students in 12 scholarship categories with a variety of focus areas, including serving those underrepresented in medicine.

Celebrating Reaner Shannon

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Reaner Shannon, Ph.D. (M.A. ’78, Ph.D. ’83), part of the UMKC School of Medicine for 34 years, died July 13 at the age of 85.

Shannon began her career at the school as the main research lab technologist. In 1990, she left the lab to become director of the minority affairs office at the school, becoming the school’s first associate dean for minority affairs in 1998, a post she held until she retired in 2008. That year, she was presented the Bill French Alumni Service Award.

Shannon and her husband, Henry Shannon, established the Dr. Reaner and Mr. Henry Shannon Lectureship in Minority Health in 2006. Speakers of local and national interest have presented the lecture each February since in conjunction with Black History Month, focusing on timely topics that impact underserved and minority communities.

Mike Weaver, M.D., ’77, a member of the UMKC School of Medicine’s first graduating class to complete the school’s six-year program, delivered the 2022 lecture.

“Reaner Shannon was an insightful, compassionate, and tireless advocate for URiM (Underrepresented in Medicine) students, who was well ahead of her time.  Long before it was common to talk about health equity, Dr. Shannon recognized that the lack of attention to minority health was creating an ongoing healthcare disparities crisis. She raised awareness on these issues and encouraged the School of Medicine to bring these topics to medical education,” Weaver said. “The Dr. Reaner and Mr. Henry Shannon Endowed Lectureship in Minority Health is a testament to that vision and her intention to ensure that medical students at UMKC would forever have access to thought leaders in this area.”

“She recognized that URiM students experience unique challenges in medical school, and she was a mentor who helped hundreds of students mitigate those challenges and successfully graduate,” he continued. “I am very grateful that I was one of those students when I met her back in 1973. She helped me navigate some difficult situations, was affirming, and always had an open door and a warm smile.”

Shannon established the UMKC School of Medicine Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Council in 2001 to promote a diverse, nondiscriminatory learning and working environment for the school. It was charged with promoting cultural competency, awareness, inclusion, respect and equity through education, training, programing and advancement. The Council hosts a Diversity Symposium bringing together all departments across the School of Medicine to create goals and recognize existing efforts towards more diverse, equitable, and inclusive environments and work execution.

Shannon also launched Saturday Academy, a free program designed to spark interest in and help prepare young people for potential careers in health care. The program provides students in grades six through 12 with two and a half hours of classes that focus on math and science as well as ACT prep.

2022 class of Summer Scholars view an ventilation demonstration.

She started a similar program, Summer Scholars, that invites minority and disadvantaged students in the Kansas City metropolitan area to take part in a two-week session each July. They receive daily instruction in academic areas such as chemistry and language arts, and study anatomy and physiology in the school’s cadaver lab. Summer Scholars has grown from a single two-week experience for local underserved high school students that Shannon began more than 40 years ago to four different programs provided for high school and undergraduate college students.

“I’d like to think I made an impact in the lives of those students who, in some cases, might not have known that studying medicine was even an option,” she said when presented with the Bill French award. “It was important for me to build in the lives of young people, to help them in any way that I could to succeed.”

Shannon also served on the board of directors for the Black Health Care Coalition and the Edgar Snow Foundation.

Mike Weaver, M.D., delivers 2022 Shannon Lecture

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Dr. Michael Weaver

Discussions about diversity, equity and inclusion are culturally sensitive and complex. They’re also necessary, said Mike Weaver, M.D., ’77, a member of the UMKC School of Medicine’s first graduating class to complete the school’s six-year program.

The first African-American graduate of the School of Medicine, Weaver reflected on his time at the medical school and navigating the field of medicine as an underrepresented minority as keynote speaker at the Dr. Reaner and Mr. Henry Shannon Lectureship in Minority Health.

Weaver said he was particularly honored and excited to present this year’s Shannon lectureship for two reasons.

“First, because the school of medicine is celebrating our 50 year golden anniversary and I am a proud graduate of the inaugural class,” Weaver said. “And second, because I am a URiM (underrepresented in medicine) member of that class, and I have seen and experienced how diversity, inclusion and equity can have important downstream impacts on students, residents, physicians and health care in our community.”

Weaver said now is a good time for people to reflect on what has taken place in the world around them.

“We are observing an awakening period around issues of diversity, inclusion and equity,” he said. “Not only from a criminal, social justice standpoint, which was brought on by the murder of George Floyd, but also from a health care and social standpoint, brought about around COVID.”

Weaver pointed out that today’s society is recognizing that racism is a social influencer of health and that diversity, equity and inclusion are some of the tools necessary to address the issue. Diversity, he said, is allowing others in the room to be part of the discussion.

“It’s important to remember that representation matters and that inclusion takes place when one is given a seat at the table and has a voice that is valued and respected,” he said. “Equity is what happens when that seat and that voice influences equitable outcomes.”

An emergency medicine physician who retired last summer, Weaver worked in various roles over the years.  He served as medical director of Saint Luke’s Kansas City Hospital’s Level I trauma emergency services for 17 years. He was the founding chairman of the hospital’s department of emergency medicine and provided emergency medicine oversight for MAST and Life Flight Ambulance systems for more than 15 years. Weaver was appointed by two Missouri governors to chair the Governor’s Advisory Council on Missouri Emergency Medical Services.

He has also championed the School of Medicine’s efforts in diversity and inclusion. One of four African-American members of the school’s inaugural six-year class, he was the only one of the four to complete the program with his class.

“The school was intentional about diversity, equity and inclusion from the beginning,” Weaver said. “That intentionality created the opportunity for me to be the first African-American to do certain things at Saint Luke’s (Hospital) that positively benefited the community. Our work is to make sure there will be many more students that serve the community. I was able to do many things because the school gave me a chance.”

New program supports School of Medicine’s Latinx students

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Latinos in Medicine, a new program for the School of Medicine’s Latinx students, held an early meeting on Zoom.

A new organization at the UMKC School of Medicine is designed to support and encourage Latinx students to help them succeed in medical school and as physicians.

Raquel McCommon, coordinator of strategic initiatives in the school’s Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, said Latinx students are paired with physician mentors who can meet with and help the students through the challenges of life as an underrepresented minority in medical school and beyond.

Latinos in Medicine, established a year ago, gives the students the opportunity to meet and see successful Latinx physicians.

“That in itself is supportive, motivating and inspiring,” McCommon said. “It’s a way of making them feel a sense of belonging, connected, that they have people who are looking out for them, who understand where they’re coming from to help them have better success.”

McCommon said most of the students participating in the program are also involved in the school’s STAHR (Students Training in Academia, Health and Research) program. Supported by a grant from the United States Health Resources and Services Administration, that program also helps prepare students from disadvantaged backgrounds entering health care programs.

However, McCommon said, the STAHR program currently does not have any Hispanic mentors for students.

“What we were hearing from our Latinx students was ‘we need mentors and we need mentors that look like us,’” she said. “Part of the challenge is finding physicians who come from the same background and experiences as our Latinx students.”

As a result, School of Medicine Dean Mary Anne Jackson, M.D., reached out to Liset Olarte, M.D., a pediatrician at Children’s Mercy Kansas City, where Jackson is also on staff. Olarte leads the hospital’s Latinx Employee Resource Group, which includes several Hispanic physicians.

Olarte and her colleagues agreed to serve as physician mentors for the School of Medicine’s Latinos in Medicine program, which also partners with UMKC’s Avanzando program for Hispanic students campus wide.

“Not all of our students are going to go into pediatrics, but this is a stepping stone,” McCommon said. “Here is a physician that does look like you, who might speak the same language as you, that might have experienced a similar background or struggles as you.”

Ten students actively participate in the program, which is open to all Latinx students at the School of Medicine. In addition to one-on-one mentoring, the plan is for the Latinos in Medicine students to meet at least twice a year, including a welcoming program at the beginning of the school year.

McCommon said the broader goal is to offer more group meeting opportunities such as in-person study sessions where students and mentors can come together in an informal setting.

“Often students feel intimidated. There’s a level of hesitancy or reluctance,” McCommon said. “We want them to have what they need when they need it, not when it’s too late.”

AMA past president to deliver 2021 Shannon Lectureship

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Patrice Harris Bio PicThe UMKC School of Medicine will welcome Patrice Harris, M.D., immediate past president of the American Medical Association, as keynote speaker at the 2021 Dr. Reaner and Mr. Henry Shannon Endowed Lecture in Minority Health. This year’s lecture will be a virtual event at noon Feb. 12.

Harris, a psychiatrist and recognized expert in children’s mental health and childhood trauma, will discuss the persistent gaps and inequities in health care highlighted during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the role of organized medicine and physician leaders in bringing greater equity.

A private practice physician, county public health director, patient advocate and medical society lobbyist, Harris became the AMA’s first African American woman president in 2020. Before that, she developed a deep understanding of health care issues through several AMA leadership roles. She previously served as a member of the AMA Board of Trustees and has led the AMA Opioid Task Force since its origin in 2014.

Harris has also served in leadership roles with psychiatric organizations including the American Psychiatric Association, the Georgia Psychiatric Physicians Association, the Medical Association of Georgia and the Big Cities Health Coalition.

She also is an adjunct assistant professor in psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Morehouse School of Medicine and the Emory Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. In private practice she consults public and private organizations on health service delivery and emerging trends in practice and health policy.

Harris is a graduate of West Virginia University, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a master’s in counseling psychology before receiving her medical degree in 1992.

Grant will help Black churches fight COVID-19

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Berkley-Patton, JanetteCOVID-19 has infected, hospitalized and killed Black Americans at a higher rate compared with whites. As it has with other health disparities, the University of Missouri-Kansas City is going to partner with churches to fight this one. The National Institutes of Health has awarded UMKC a two-year, $1.9 million grant to do so as part of its Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics-Underserved Populations (RADx-UP) initiative.

“By working with 16 churches, which are trusted institutions in the African American community, we will greatly expand COVID-19 testing opportunities and access to care in low-income areas of Kansas City,” said Jannette Berkley-Patton, Ph.D., principal investigator of the grant, director of the UMKC Health Equity Institute and a professor at the School of Medicine. “This RADx-UP grant will help people who probably never would have gotten tested get the support they need.”

The team of investigators on the grant are from UMKC, Children’s Mercy, University of Kansas Medical Center, University of Massachusetts, University of California-San Francisco and Johns Hopkins University. In addition to churches and their leaders and members, they will work in partnership with Calvary Community Outreach Network and the Kansas City Health Department for testing, contact tracing and linkage to care services.

“By working with 16 churches, which are trusted institutions in the African American community, we will greatly expand COVID-19 testing opportunities and access to care in low-income areas of Kansas City. This RADx-UP grant will help people who probably never would have gotten tested get the support they need.” – Jannette Berkley-Patton

“One of our aims with the grant is to not only expand testing but to also help get the community prepared for the vaccine,” said Mary Anne Jackson, M.D., an investigator of the grant, dean of the UMKC School of Medicine and an infectious disease expert at Children’s Mercy. “Vaccine confidence relies on trust and transparent communication of vaccine science and safety. The mistrust among people of color about the COVID-19 vaccine stems back toward experience in other research impacting this population, namely the Tuskegee trials in 1932 to study syphilis where Black males were not provided treatment.”

Key social determinants contribute to the disparities for Blacks and COVID-19 including essential public-facing jobs, cultural norms like medical and contact tracing mistrust and limited access to health care. African Americans also have a high burden of chronic health conditions including obesity, diabetes and heart disease, which put them at an increased risk for COVID-19.

Studies, including UMKC investigations led by Berkley-Patton, have shown that community-engaged research with African American churches has led to health screening uptake for HIV and STD testing and reducing risks for diabetes. Yet, no proven COVID-19 testing interventions exist for African American churches, which have wide reach and influence in their communities, high attendance rates and supportive health and social services for community members.

At churches, the grant aims to reach people through sermons, testimonials, church bulletins, and text messages. This also includes faith leaders promoting testing – and getting tested in front of their congregations – so that people can actually see what the testing process looks like.

To date, Berkley-Patton’s work has been supported by more than $12 million in federal grants over the past 14 years. The community-engaged research she has conducted in partnership with faith communities has benefited people in the Kansas City area as well as Alabama and Jamaica.

“At UMKC, we fight racial inequity at all levels, and that includes life-saving health care at our public urban research university,” said UMKC Chancellor Mauli Agrawal. “We are proud of the work Dr. Berkley-Patton is leading through proven strategies at places of worship. We know this team of investigators and their partners will help keep our community safer from COVID-19.”

School of Medicine announces new assistant dean for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion

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The School of Medicine announced that Doris C. Agwu, M.P.H., will serve in the new position of assistant dean for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.

Agwu has 11 years of experience with diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in academics, business and community work. Under the leadership of associate dean Tyler Smith, M.D., Agwu will work to expand the school’s focus on current diversity, equity and inclusion programs. Her new role will also include implementing new programs to recruit, educate and serve students, residents and faculty, and emphasize initiatives to ensure a positive learning environment.

At the University of Missouri-Columbia, Agwu earned a bachelor of arts in psychology, a bachelor of science in biology, a minor in business administration and a master’s degree in public health. She served as a research specialist at the University of Missouri Sinclair School of Nursing where she created strategies to address the health care needs of rural Missouri women over the age of 50. She also has served as medical department chair for Bryan University in Columbia, where she spearheaded diversity and inclusion initiatives, taught multiple courses and managed more than 20 direct reports.

In her most recent role as director of engagement and coordinator of underrepresented minority student recruitment at the University of Missouri-Columbia College of Arts and Sciences, she worked to drive inclusion, diversity and equity strategies through best practices to ensure an inclusive culture. She implemented long-term strategic outreach efforts for the college, and collaborated with senior leaders and key stakeholders on state and community programming.

A 2019 recipient of the University G.O.L.D. award for service to the alumni community, Agwu is the vice president of the Mizzou Black Alumni Network. She is also membership co-chair of the Griffiths Leadership Society for Women. She was selected as a member of the new, chancellor-appointed Equity Resolution Hearing Panel and is a charter member of the central Missouri chapter of The Links, Incorporated, serving as the technology/PR/communication chair.

Agwu said she understands the needs of all students to address issues of marginalization.

“I want all Black students to know that their lives matter,” Agwu said. “I want all students of color, including Asian, Hispanic/Latinx and indigenous students, to know their cultures and unique experiences are significant. I want all women to know they have autonomy over their bodies. I want all LGBTQIA students to feel embraced and supported, and for students with disabilities, that they can access everything.”

SOM’s Angela Nwankwo serving national leadership role with SNMA

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Third-year medical student Angela Nwankwo has been selected to a national leadership position with the Student National Medical. She is serving as co-chair of organization’s national publications committee.

She took on her new role earlier this year during a virtual meeting of the annual SNMA Medical Education Conference. The educational and networking event is the nation’s largest gathering of underrepresented minority medical students and professionals.

Nwankwo has previously participated in the SNMA’ s National Future Leadership Fellow program. She has served as vice president of the School of Medicine’s group chapter. She has been secretary of the Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Interest Group and a student representative on the school’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Council and the Council on Evaluation.

She serves a clinic manager for the school’s student-run Sojourner Health Clinic and the Kansas City Free Eye Clinic.

SNMA is the national oldest and largest student-run organization that focuses on the needs of medical students of color. With chapters across the country, it has a membership of more than 7,000 medical and pre-medical students and physicians.

Dr. Tyler Smith appointed Associate Dean of Diversity

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The School of Medicine has announced Tyler Smith, M.D., M.P.H.,  assistant professor of pediatrics, as the new Associate Dean of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion beginning April 6, 2020. She is the first physician to hold this role.

Smith takes over for Nate Thomas, Ph.D., who served in that role from December 2017 to March 2020. She joined the Children’s Mercy Department of Pediatrics and UMKC faculty in February, 2018. In addition to her role as associate dean, she will continue to serve at Children’s Mercy as the General Academic Pediatrics Fellowship program director.

A graduate of the University of South Carolina School of Medicine, Smith completed her pediatric residency at the University of Maryland Medical System in 2008.

Smith completed her M.P.H. and fellowship in general academic pediatrics at Johns Hopkins School of Public Health and School of Medicine. She was recognized as mentor of the year by Hampton University, where she completed her undergraduate work.

A member of the National Medical Association Editorial Board, Smith is nationally known for her work in medical education, mentorship, diversity, health care disparities and physician wellness.

In August 2019, she was appointed by the Governor of Kansas to the Kansas Children’s Cabinet and Trust Fund. The initiative assists children and families in Kansas by developing and implementing a service delivery system.