Diversity and Inclusion in GME

The Office of Graduate Medical Education and GME-sponsored Residency Programs host a variety of educational programs, committees, and endeavors related to Diversity and Inclusion, as detailed below:

Our Categorical Internal Medicine Program offers a Health Equity Track which is a three-year longitudinal curriculum integrated within the main residency curriculum designed specifically for residents who envision working towards eliminating disparities in healthcare.

The Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Leadership Track

The Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Leadership Track is a two-year extra-curricular learning track offered through a partnership between the Graduate Medical Education Office and the Office of Multicultural and Community Affairs. The aim is for learners to develop cross-continuum competencies in DEI that will bolster their professional development and prepare them to pursue career pathways focused on DEI leadership in medicine. An additional aim of the curriculum is to enhance the resources for DEI education and DEI scholarship that are available to the medical communities at the University of Connecticut and affiliated hospitals.

Interested trainees from any UConn-sponsored program in the PGY2 year or beyond are encouraged to apply. Post-graduate year one trainees may be considered on a selected basis.

Go to the links below to explore a more detailed description, the curriculum, and our application:

Pipeline Program to Promote Academic Diversity

The goal of the Pipeline Program to Promote Academic Diversity is to provide academic enrichment and mentorship activities to students and residents within the Consortium to increase diversity of faculty at UConn Health and affiliate institutions. Pipeline Program to Promote Academic Diversity (P3AD) Curricular Outline.

Faculty Spotlights Related to Diversity and Inclusion

  • Spring 2023: Kirsten Ek, M.D.  - Honored for her work in developing the Health Disparity Track within the Internal Medicine Residency Program.
  • Fall 2022: Kenia Mansilla-Rivera, M.D. - Nominated for her dedication to community service for students and residents and for the community collaborations she has worked to establish. She has been a major pillar in the Urban Service Track of the Family Medicine Residency Program since 2007.
  • Spring 2022: Pooja Luthra, M.D. - Nominated for her outstanding leadership in the Endocrinology Fellowship Program and UConn's innovative transgender medicine clinical program. 
  • Fall 2021: Christopher L. Steele, M.D., M.P.H, M.S.Nominated for his expertise in Health Systems Science throughout the medical school curriculum and for his mentorship of medical students. With his mentorship, various medical student leaders designed a tool used by medical students in the waiting room of primary care offices, to screen patients for social inequity barriers, and social determinants of health in the community. They also developed a direct referral procedure to enlist the assistance of population health resource specialists on campus when a need is identified (food scarcity, housing insecurity, transportation barriers, uninsured or underinsured, etc.).
  • Winter 2019: Susan Levine, M.D., M.P.H. - Nominated for the development and continued growth of UConn Immigrant Health, a 3 part entity focused on the medical care, teaching and advocacy of immigrants. Dr. Levine runs a student advocacy group UIRI (the UConn Immigration Rights Initiative) where medical students trained by Physicians for Human Rights draft medical affidavits to assist attorneys representing asylum seekers. She cares along with residents for newly arrived refugees and provides green card exams and primary care to a large and diverse immigrant population. She teaches in the medical school, MPH program and residency about immigrant health.
  • Winter 2018: Biree Andemariam, M.D.Nominated for her creation of the New England Sickle Cell Institute.
  • Winter 2017: Kevin Dieckhaus, M.D.Nominated for his work in Uganda since 2002 —runs a clinical rotation for UConn residents in Uganda with a tropical medicine curriculum, working on an integrated team with Ugandan doctors and UConn faculty.
  • Fall 2016: David Henderson, M.D. - Awarded a Bishop Fellowship by the Society of Teachers and Family Medicine for his work promoting academic success by fostering inclusive and culturally diverse environments for medical students.