Internal Medicine Residency Diversity Action Council

The mission of the IM Residency Diversity Action Council (DAC) is to encourage residents to challenge racism and health inequities in medicine through academic and interprofessional discussion and action, while also promoting a more diverse and inclusive medical community. One of the founding members and faculty advisors is Sakeina Howard-Wilson, DO, who completed the IM residency here.

The council aims to achieve its mission through the following initiatives:

Education lectures/journal clubs: Under the guidance of UMass Chan faculty advisors and faculty volunteers, residents create presentations that critically analyze how racism in medicine and social justice issues affect vulnerable populations. IM residents use contemporary evidence to develop presentations that examine the impacts of racism on patient health outcomes. The DAC’s first presentation in 2022, COVID-19 and Health Care Disparities: A Closer Look, focused on critically evaluating the disproportionate mortality rates among individuals from racial/ethnic minorities compared to nonminority populations. As a result of their efforts and the impact of this presentation, DAC members were invited to present their work at Medical Grand Rounds in 2022 and have presented additional work during Medical Grand Rounds in 2023 and 2024. You may view their most recent presentation here.

Community engagement: The DAC strives to create a safe space for residents to learn and engage in discussions on real-world social justice issues that affect the UMass Chan community. These discussions have the potential to generate promising solutions for enhancing the culture, health equity and quality at UMass Chan, benefiting both residents and patients.