Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, & Justice
Community and Campus Happenings
The Central Office for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Community Engagement keeps a thorough list of cultural activities, meetings, volunteer opportunities, and much more that are going on in the community and around campus.
Diversity in the Program
At the University of Colorado Internal Medicine Residency Program, we believe that a commitment to diversity will enable us to achieve the highest standards of excellence in all domains.
Diversity within our residency program not only enriches our resident physicians’ experiences, it improves the quality of patient care. We strive to strengthen our program by recognizing that differences in race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, religion, and spiritual practice are crucial to developing competent physician leaders who will deliver quality patient care with lasting impact on individuals and communities.
Within the Internal Medical Residency Program, we are continually striving to improve our inclusiveness through our recruitment practices, programs, committees, education, and training.
Diversity Recruitment
- Since the 2018-19 recruitment season, we have steadily increased our housestaff diversity year over year from 15% to 25%. Our 2024-25 intern class is represented by over 40% of those coming from communities that are historically excluded in medicine.
- We perform holistic reviews (metrics, experiences, and attributes) of all applications.
- We ensure that applicants meet with a diverse set of residents and faculty during their interview process.
- First Look Event – Annual event highlighting some of the diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) work on campus and within our training program(s).
- Second Look Event – While all interviewees are invited to “second look” sessions, this event is tailored to students who identify as Underrepresented in Medicine (URiM) and provides additional opportunities for students to meet diverse residents and faculty and learn about resources available for mentorship, advising, community, education, etc.
Programs and Committees
- Small-Group Coaching Program - Led by the Vice Chair for Diversity and Justice, Dr. Sonia Flores, PhD. This program connects residents with faculty members within (Diversity Ambassadors) and outside the residency program, who can help navigate academic, clinical, and cultural concerns.
- Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Taskforce – This committee is comprised of faculty (leadership within the IMRP) and residents. The of this committee is to look at all aspects of our training program (committees, policies, procedures, educational sessions, etc.) using a DEI lens, eliminating bias and promoting equity and inclusion in all that we do.
- Minority Allied Resident Council – MARC is a community of minority and allied residents and fellows at the University of Colorado's Anschutz Medical Campus, Denver Health, and Rocky Mountain VA, whose primary mission is to support and grow diversity on our campuses.
Education and Training
- Health Equities Pathway – Provides targeted training to residents who aspire to careers addressing issues of health disparities and community/public health.
- Building Trust and Equity in Medicine - This is a simulation-based curriculum for all internal medicine interns. The goal is to improve communication and trust between healthcare providers and patients from marginalized backgrounds.
- All residents attend educational sessions on Implicit Bias, Upstander Training, and other DEI topics.
- There are many opportunities for scholarly activities and other DEI-related efforts (including community engagement, advocacy, and providing education) mentored by faculty, with grant funding available from the Department of Medicine.
- Faculty are required to attend and undergo the same sessions/trainings to help increase awareness of the effects of unconscious bias on patient care, learner education, etc. and help combat microaggressions, racism, and other forms of discrimination in clinical settings.
- We aim to select speakers from diverse backgrounds for Grand Rounds and other educational sessions.
Our commitment to diversity extends beyond the Internal Medicine Residency Program to the Department of Medicine, the School of Medicine, the campus, and the community.
Diversity on Our Campus
In the Department of Medicine, Sonia Flores, PhD was appointed Vice Chair for Diversity and Justice in 2016. Dr. Flores is a professor in the Division of Pulmonary Sciences and Critical Care Medicine, and was the program director of an NIGMS-funded Initiative for Maximizing Student Diversity; she has been the Program Director of the NHLBI-funded GEMS (Graduate Experiences for Multicultural Students) program for the past 16 years.
Dr. Flores is committed to increasing diversity among housestaff, fellows, and faculty by incorporating social science theories and focusing on cultural competence. The Department of Medicine also sponsors the DREAM Program, which brings medical students from underrepresented groups into CU's research labs.
At the campus level, Regina Richards, PhD, MSW serves as the Vice Chancellor of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Community Engagement; Amira del Pino-Jones, MD serves as the Associate Dean for Diversity and Inclusion, and Jacqueline Ward-Gaines, MD serves as the Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at the GME level. Together, they lead the way in developing a faculty, housestaff, and student body that best reflects the patients for whom we care.
The University of Colorado Organization for Racial and Ethnic Support (UCOLORES), founded in 2010, provides support and community for faculty, residents, staff, and students of color through monthly meetings. This group helps build bridges and develop relationships by creating mentoring partnerships, providing support for faculty development and promotion, and encouraging connections for research collaborations. The group also hosts community engagement activities throughout the year (book club, social events) and an annual Toast to Diversity event, which celebrates our campus and serves as a "call to action" to create community and improve our diversity efforts.
As of October 2021, the University of Colorado Denver and the Anschutz Medical Campus are jointly recognized as a Hispanic Serving Institution by the U.S. Department of Education. We are the first research university in the state of Colorado to attain this status. You can learn more about this distinction and what this means for education and patient care HERE.
The Graduate Medical Education (GME) office also has a strong commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion efforts. They frequently partner with the School of Medicine Office of Diversity and Inclusion and DEI task force to provide events and educational opportunities during the recruitment season and throughout a trainees residency experience. Our GME office has closely reviewed how we as a university are doing in recruiting trainees who identify as under-represented in medicine (URiM). Since 2017-18, the GME office has identified an upward trajectory in our overall URiM enrollment, which we are determined and committed to continually increasing this number as we move forward.
Graduate Medical Education’s (GME) Academic Year Depiction of Under-Represented Minority Enrollment Based on the % of Total Trainee Enrollment from the 2019-20 AY to 2023-24 AY
Please click on the following links to learn more about some of our efforts and opportunities in diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice.
- White Coats for Black Lives
- Minority and Allied Resident Council
- Student National Medical Association (SNMA)
- Latino Medical Student Association (LMSA)
- Women in Medicine and Science Committee
- Colorado Rural Health Scholars Program
- CU Association of International Researchers
Diversity in Our Community
CU internal medicine residents do
rotations at several affiliates serving highly diverse populations, including
Denver Health and the VA Medical Center. University of Colorado Hospital
is located in Aurora. Today, Aurora is the third largest and the most diverse
city in Colorado, with 64% of the population belonging to minority groups as
well as more than 160 languages spoken throughout Aurora Public Schools.
Aurora is recognized as a refugee
resettlement area, amongst others identified nationwide. Since receiving this
designation, the city has developed an immigration center and an educational
and outreach program for Aurora’s new diverse populations. This provides our
residents with many unique opportunities to learn from and provide high-quality
care to underserved populations.
As a major safety-net hospital
located in the heart of the city of Denver, Denver Health hospital provides
care for one third of Denver adults and children. Denver Health is committed to
providing health care to our community regardless of the ability to pay. It
offers several payment assistance programs for low-income and uninsured
patients.
As we look forward, Aurora and
Denver continually strive to celebrate the growing array of diversity they
encompass. Our residents are fortunate to form working relationships
within the diverse communities they call home. To better understand the
population demographics within Aurora and Denver, data from the United States
Census Bureau is included below.
Race
| Self-Identification | Aurora | Denver |
| Black or African American | 16.60% | 9.00% |
| American Indian or Alaska Native | 0.80% | 0.80% |
| Asian | 6.60% | 3.60% |
| Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander | 0.30% | 0.10% |
| Hispanic or Latino | 29.00% | 29.40% |
| Two or More Races | 10.60% | 9.90% |
| White | 43.50% | 54.00% |
Population Characteristics
| Self-Identification | Aurora | Denver |
| Veterans, 2017-2021 | 23,103 | 27,964 |
| Foreign Born Persons, 2017-2021 | 21.20% | 14.20% |
Health
| Self-Identification | Aurora | Denver |
| With a Disability Under Age 65 Years | 7.80% | 6.70% |
| Persons Without Health Insurance Under Age 65 Years | 13.30% | 10.70% |
"Diversity is being invited to the party; Inclusion is being asked to dance."
- Verna Myers