Training and Workshops

21-Day Anti-Racism, Anti-Bias Challenge

In April 2021, the Internal Medicine Department announced its participation in a “21-Day Anti-Racism, Anti-Bias Challenge”, and we invited all faculty, trainees, and staff members to join us. Diversity expert Eddie Moore, Jr conceived the 21-day challenge idea to advance deeper understandings of the intersections of race, power, privilege, supremacy, and oppression.

The goal of the challenge was to engage the entire department in an educational exercise to promote awareness on issues of racism, bias, and discrimination and to encourage individuals to reflect on strategies to promote an inclusive atmosphere in our department.

This voluntary challenge invited all faculty, trainees and staff to complete a syllabus of 21 daily assignments (reading articles or viewing videos) and make a pledge to actively use the knowledge gained. The following are some of the pledges made by Dept of Internal Medicine faculty, staff, or trainees that participated in the 21 day challenge.

Lift up, emphasize, and embrace the capabilities and intrinsic self-worth of children of color at all stages of their lives -- even the young professional adults we work with daily. Our trainees carry with them the experiences and social influences of their youth, revealed by the doll test”

“I will become more self-aware of my own implicit bias, continue to form relationships /common ground with individuals of different cultural/ethnic backgrounds, and to always treat others with dignity and respect.”

“I must get involved. It begins with identifying and confronting my own racial biases. That is not enough. I must also prioritize changing these biases in myself, influence others to do the same, and become active in providing opportunities for the disenfranchised.”

“I will do a self-audit today.”

Virtual Training Retreat

In May 2021, the Internal Medicine Department held a virtual retreat for its program directors that focused on implicit bias mitigation and diversity enhancement strategies in recruiting, screening, and ranking/selection of candidates. This will be an annual event.

Implicit Bias Workshops

The Internal Medicine department has developed a 2-hour workshop entitled Unconscious Bias in Healthcare—A Primer and Strategies to Reduce the Impact of Unconscious Bias. Workshops are led by Dr. Quinn Capers, IV, a certified moderator of IB workshops who has trained more than 2,000 physicians and healthcare workers in strategies to mitigate bias in patient care, candidate selection, and other scenarios.

To schedule a workshop for your group, contact the office of the Vice Chair for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at 214-648-3054 or send an olivia.rodriguez@utsouthwestern.edu.