The Office of Diversity and Inclusion Empowers the Community

What are the responsibilities of your office? 

We work to ensure that people of all backgrounds from the College, TCDM, and affiliates feel included and have a sense of belonging. We work hard to ensure that everyone has an opportunity to thrive in our environment. We ensure that students in clinical programs go through in-person implicit bias and microaggression training. We also have introduced narrative medicine modules to the students as a way to process experiences with implicit bias. We join the members of our diverse community in celebrating and observing the various holidays and observances. We also work with our community to address challenging situations in real-time. We support our students who need religious accommodation, accommodations pertaining to disabilities, financial challenges, academic accountability, DEI-related research, and more. We also attend medical conferences throughout the year to represent NYMC and share health equity research, scholarship, and exchange best practice ideas with other institutions throughout the year. The Office of Diversity and Inclusion collaborates with numerous offices in the SOM to hold a Pre-Matriculation Program every summer for the incoming SOM class that allows them early exposure to the campus, faculty, staff, their peers, and some of the content that they will be learning to prepare them for the start of their medical education careers. 
 
How would you describe the day-to-day functions of your office? 

We host events throughout the academic year that require planning and coordination with other departments and student groups, as well as accessing different resources. We have students who come in for advice and direction with difficulties they may be facing, both academic and personal. Students also come to voice concerns they may have. We attend various meetings throughout the day with other departments, our hospital affiliates, and community partners.  
 
What is the most asked question from students about your office? 

Students frequently inquire about getting additional financial assistance from our office. While money may be tight for students across the board, students who are from demographics underrepresented in medicine and those who are first-generation college graduates often face higher levels of financial insecurity throughout their academic careers. Our office has made strides towards securing various grants and funding to better bridge this gap for our students. We work hard to make sure that those financial challenges are not barriers to them achieving their goals. 
 
What do you find most interesting or most rewarding about working in your office? 

The student engagement with our office is very special to us. Many students entrust us with the intimate and difficult details of their lives, and we take pride in offering guidance, counsel, and assistance as needed. We also have enjoyed getting the campus community to understand that our community is diverse because of everyone who makes up the NYMC and TCDM community. It is not one particular racial or ethnic group that makes us diverse; rather it is every single individual who brings a lifetime of lived experiences to our community that makes us diverse.
 
Is there a fun fact or best-kept secret about your office? 

We have a well-stocked food pantry in our office, which has recently become overstocked courtesy of offerings from Calvary Baptist Church. Students are encouraged to come and “shop” as needed, guilt-free. We prefer for our food pantry to not be a secret so spread the word.  
 
What is one useful tip you can give to students about your office? 

If you think we can help, connect with us sooner rather than later. Often students will have needs but wait until they’re in a very difficult position before reaching out. If you are not sure whether we can help, just reach out anyway and you might be surprised.