Diversity And Inclusion

Johnson & Johnson Vision announced it is collaborating with Black EyeCare Perspective to grow the percentage of Black people in the eye care industry to 13% to mirror the number of Blacks in the U.S. population.

This month’s cover story celebrates the changing landscape of the practice of gastroenterology and highlights many of the exceptional voices spearheading this charge. The article makes a powerful case that a diverse workforce will improve patient care, provide role models for the next generation of professionals in gastroenterology and result in greater physician retention in the field. These benefits of increased diversity are not lost on me as I embark on my new position as director of the University of Chicago’s Center for Endoscopic Research and Therapeutics (CERT), one of the few independent units for advanced endoscopy in the country.

In spring 2020, I entered a new role as Chair of Medicine, learning a new position and campus, and moving a family across the country during a pandemic. As a physician, woman, spouse and mother, I have learned so much about what we need from leaders and what we need to do as leaders.

While 2020 brought diversity to the forefront of many physicians’ minds, 2021 brought about more concrete action.

The COVID-19 pandemic has put a pause on progress made toward closing the gender gap, according to AWIR president Grace C. Wright, MD, who spoke with panelists here to identify the current state of these efforts and devise a path forward.

Despite data showing diversity among providers improves patient care and outcomes, barriers remain to increasing the Black, Hispanic/Latinx and Indigenous cardiologist workforce, according to a recent review paper.

In this podcast episode, Sophie M. Balzora, MD, FACG, discusses how she found an interest in gastroenterology, the importance of having a true diversity, equity and inclusion initiative in the health care field and more.

In this episode, Carol L. Brown, MD, discusses her role as chief health equity officer at MSKCC, her thoughts on the future of structural inequities, strategies to diversify clinical trials, and more.

Racial and ethnic minority groups were “markedly underrepresented” in outpatient practices across most medical specialties, and those disparities persisted even after researchers accounted for social determinants of access to care.

This past spring, two studies shed light on how some of the largest clinician organizations and publishers in rheumatology, including the American College of Rheumatology and EULAR, have failed to provide adequate training materials or clear guidelines when it comes to caring for patients of color.