#Staff

#Neurodivergent

Hearing diverse perspectives from people with different lived experiences has been eye-opening, humbling and transformative. My years working alongside community members in Colorado, Massachusetts and Bulgaria, has shaped my thoughts on DEIA and Community Engagement.

As a country, we are so lucky to have the richness of unique cultures, experiences, and perspectives, yet, we haven't been able to fully tap into that deep well of possibilities. What I love about having a focus on diversity, equity, inclusion and anti-racism here at DFM, is that we are committed to uncover, own, and address barriers (both conscious and unconscious) that get in the way of unlocking our potential.

In Colorado, we are surrounded by untapped resources of individuals/groups of resident leaders and community-led organizations who want to connect and partner with us to achieve wellbeing and belonging. The more ways that we can add them to the table and listen and engage, the more likely we will be able to work together for the changes we all want to see.

Locally, around our clinics and on our campus, when we hire and empower diverse community members, we get powerful insights and knowledge that allow us to be thoughtful and responsive to the needs of our patients and communities as well as advancing the success of our clinical teams.

As someone with a background in the arts, finding your voice is essential, and using it, necessary. DFM's counterculture roots and their ongoing commitment to challenge the status quo makes them the medical discipline avant-garde. By raising the bar on health equity through our focus on community engagement and DEIA, Family Medicine healthcare practice invokes the power to envision a better world and the will to manifest it.

Link for DFM Counterculture roots to this document please: https://journals.stfm.org/media/5340/ggayle629-1998.pdf