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Objective. To evaluate the impact of institutional initiatives to enhance recruitment of minority students as a strategy to increase diversity and inclusion. Methods. The Office of Recruitment, Development, and Diversity Initiatives (ORDDI) was established and several initiatives were developed within the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy to promote student diversity and engagement. Applicant demographics and admission data were tracked from 2007-2012 to assess program performance and effectiveness.Results. Over the 6-year period, 812 recruitment events were facilitated. Twenty-nine percent of the students admitted from 2007-2012 participated in 1 or more ORDDI recruitment programs prior to admission. Forty-two percent of this cohort were minorities. The overall average minority profile of students increased from 19% to 25% after establishing the ORDDI. Conclusions. To achieve student diversity and inclusion, a multifaceted effort is required, involving a continuum of institutional strategies, including innovative practice models and high impact programs.

ObjectivesThis study explored new models of diversity for health professions education that incorporate multiple attributes and examined differences in diversity based on urbanicity, geographic region, and institutional structure.MethodsSimpson’s Diversity Index was used to develop race, gender, and interprofessional diversity indices for health professions schools in the United States (N = 318). Sullivan’s extension was used to develop a composite diversity index that incorporated multiple individual attributes for each school. Pearson’s r was used to investigate correlations between continuous variables. ANOVA and independent t-tests were used to compare groups based on urbanicity, geographic region, and Basic Carnegie Classification.ResultsMean (SD) for race, gender, and interprofessional  diversity indices were 0.36(0.17), 0.45(0.07), and 0.22(0.27) respectively. All correlations between the three indices were weak. The composite diversity index for this sample was 0.34(0.13). Significant differences in diversity were found between institutions based on urbanicity, Basic Carnegie Classification, and geographic region. ConclusionsMultidimensional models provide support for expanding measures of diversity to include multiple characteristics and attributes. The approach demonstrated in this study enables institutions to complement and extend traditional measures of diversity as a means of providing evidence for decision-making and progress towards institutional initiatives.

Objective. Pharmacists must be equipped with the knowledge, skills, and attitudes necessary to provide culturally intelligent and patient-centered care; however, most are not trained to do so. In order to prepare culturally intelligent pharmacists, standards and curricula for cultural intelligence must be defined and implemented within pharmacy education. The objective of this study was to create a Cultural Intelligence Framework (CIF) for pharmacy education and determine its alignment with Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) training.Methods. An extensive literature analysis on current methods of cultural intelligence education was used to construct a CIF, which integrates leading models of cultural intelligence in health care education with Bloom's Taxonomy. Five student focus groups were conducted to explore and map their cultural experiences to the CIF. All focus groups were recorded, transcribed, deidentified and deductively coded using the CIF. Results. The four CIF domains (Awareness, Knowledge, Practice, Desire) were observed in all five focus groups; however, not every participant expressed each domain when sharing their experiences. Most students expressed Cultural Awareness, Knowledge, and Desire, however, only a few students discussed Cultural Practice. Participant comments regarding their experiences differed by race and year in the curriculum. Conclusion.This study is a first step toward understanding cultural intelligence education and experiences in pharmacy. The CIF represents an evidence-based approach to cultural intelligence training that can help prepare our learners to be socially responsible health care practitioners.