Improving on Best Practices
“I serve as the Native American Affinity Group Co-Chair and hosted a two-day Health Equity Conference that emphasized the importance of pathway programs for increasing the diversity of the medical field.” —Cameron Bosinski, Class of ’25
DEIB:
DEIB Research, QI & Education Projects
DEIB (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging) Elective
The DEIB Elective was created to elevate DEIB-focused work to the level of other core academic pillars in academic medicine, including clinical work, research, and education. The BWH Anesthesiology DEIB elective allows trainees to focus on an area of interest that advances DEIB work and our core mission concerning people underrepresented in medicine (URiM) or special populations. The areas of focus include but are not limited to:
- Recruitment and retention of diverse BWH Anesthesiology residents
- Fostering inclusive and diverse training environments that create spaces of true belonging for all trainees (by providing adequate education to all members of our department, creating psychological safety for all, and ensuring a robust bias-reporting system)
- Understanding and participating in projects that focus on health inequities, specifically as they relate to the practice of anesthesiology
- Advancing DEIB academic work through rigorous, intentional research and impactful publications
Disparities in Orthopedic Surgery Population Compared to Institutional Primary Care Services - Why Inequities Exist and How to Improve
We collaborated with our surgical colleagues and embarked on a health equity project focusing on hip and knee surgeries at BWH and BWFH over the last two years. The project’s initial focus was determining if there were inequities in postoperative pain control based on social determinants of health that we had the most information about, including gender, race, medical insurance, and level of education. We pivoted the project once we found that our hip and knee surgical patient populations lacked the diversity of our outpatient patient population, and we are now working on collecting and analyzing data to explain the reasons behind this. We also plan to use this project to develop a blueprint for similar health equity inquiries.
Annual DEIB Culture and Climate Survey
We created an annual DEIB Culture & Climate Survey for the Department of Anesthesiology, launched in the Winter of 2023, by modifying Stanford University’s 2021 DEI Survey to better understand our department’s local climate.
This survey serves as a needs assessment to create a baseline for future assessments and implementation of our DEIB efforts for the department.
The Status of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging in Academic Anesthesiology in the United States: A Scoping Review of Trainee and Faculty Experiences and Outcomes
We are conducting a scoping review utilizing the expertise of the Harvard Countway Library research librarians. We aim to review the current DEIB research methodologies, guidelines, techniques, and interventions used in academic anesthesiology residency programs and departments in the US. Our goal is to help create an optimal clinical training climate and equip US anesthesiology trainees and faculty with the tools needed to enhance equity and work towards dismantling the systemic racism and discrimination that plagues our academic medical centers and hinders us from delivering the best care to our most vulnerable patients.
Advancing Health Equity for LGBTQIA+ People
In collaboration with Dr. Keuroghlian, the DEIB Council is organizing a departmental-wide training incorporating best practices in sexual and gender minority health with the goal of optimizing affirmative and high-quality care for our LGBTQIA+ patients. Topics covered include sexual and gender minority terms and concepts, health inequities, implicit bias and power imbalances, and sensitive and affirming communication. A core number of our DEIB Council members will participate in additional comprehensive Train the Trainer course, ensuring long-term education opportunities for all members of the OR healthcare team.
