Introduction Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) provides a path for individuals who are undocumented to join the physician workforce. Indeed, recipients of DACA can play an important role in addressing health inequities in medicine. Although DACA has been in place since 2012, many medical schools remain unaware of it or are hesitant to consider recipients for admission. In a similar vein, the premedical community, including those with DACA status, may be unaware of their eligibility and the steps necessary to pursue medicine. Further education and outreach are needed to achieve institutional policies conducive to the inclusion and success of those undocumented in medicine. Methods We created an hour-long workshop to empower learners with key knowledge relevant to DACA policy and its impact on medicine. We evaluated the workshop through pre- and postworkshop questionnaires assessing participant knowledge and attitudes based on the theory of planned behavior (TPB). Results A total of 112 participants engaged in our workshop. Ninety-one pretests and 61 posttests were completed by attendees. Data revealed a significant increase in performance on all knowledge-based and TPB questions, including intention to participate in future policy development. Moreover, participants reported appreciating the interactive nature of the session and expressed feelings of empowerment by their newfound knowledge base. Discussion This workshop provides a promising foundation from which conversations and progress regarding DACA-related medical education policy can begin. Specifically, the workshop engages participants in the process of identifying actionable steps for overcoming barriers to inclusion and support.

Purpose The field of ophthalmology must become more reflective of the increasingly diverse U.S. population. This study characterizes students intending to pursue ophthalmology and practice in an underserved area versus other surgical and nonsurgical fields. Subjects Deidentified responses from 92,080 U.S. MD students who matriculated in the academic years beginning from 2007 to 2011 were obtained from the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) Graduation Questionnaires. Methods Study participants were those who fully completed the AAMC Graduation Questionnaire. Chi-squared and multivariate logistical regressions were used for analyses. Results Ophthalmology intending graduates (OIG; n = 1,177) compared with other surgical intending graduates (n = 7,955) were more likely to be female (adjusted odds ratio [aOR]: 1.46; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.28–1.66), Asian (1.71 [1.46–2.01]), and have conducted a research project with a faculty member (1.58 [1.26–1.98]). OIG compared with nonsurgery intending graduates (n = 35,865) were more likely to have completed a research project with a faculty member (4.78 [3.86–5.92]), to be Asian (1.4 [1.21–1.62]), and have received scholarships (1.18 [1.04–1.34]). OIG were less likely to be female (0.64 [0.57–0.73]) and Black/African American (0.5 [0.33–0.74]). Among OIG, Black/African American students and multiracial students were more likely than non-Hispanic (NH) White students to report intention to practice in underserved areas (IPUA; 14.29 [1.82–111.88] and 2.5 [1.06–5.92]), respectively. OIG with global health experience were more likely to report IPUA (1.64 [1.2–2.25]). Conclusion Females and underrepresented in medicine (URM), respectively, were more likely to be nonsurgery intending graduates than OIG, which, if not addressed, may lead to a persistent underrepresentation of these groups in the field. In addition, URM students, including African American students, were more likely to report IPUA, which further emphasizes the importance of more URM students entering the field to address these growing gaps in medical care. Finally, we recommend increased mentorship to help address these disparities.

The fifth annual summer research summit organized by the Center of Excellence (COE) in Health Equity, Training and Research, Baylor College of Medicine (BCM), was held on May 17, 2022. The theme of this year’s summit was ‘Academic-Community Partnerships: Change Agents for Advancing Health Equity.’ Given the ongoing pandemic, the summit was conducted virtually through digital platforms. This program was intended for both BCM and external audiences interested in advancing health equity, diversity, and inclusion in healthcare among healthcare providers and trainees, biomedical scientists, social workers, nurses, and individuals involved in talent acquisition and development, such as hiring managers (HR professionals), supervisors, college and hospital affiliate leadership and administrators, as well as diversity and inclusion excellence practitioners. We had attendees from all regions of the United States as well as from Saudi Arabia. The content in this Book of Abstracts encapsulates a summary of the research efforts by the BCM COE scholars (which includes post-baccalaureate students, medical students, clinical fellows, and junior faculty from BCM) as well as the external summit participants. The range of topics in this year’s summit was quite diverse, encompassing disparities in relation to maternal and child health (MCH), immigrant health, cancers, vaccination uptakes, and COVID-19 infections. Various solutions were ardently presented to address these disparities, including community engagement and partnerships, improvement in health literacy, and the development of novel technologies and therapeutics. With this summit, BCM continues to build on its long history of educational outreach initiatives to promote diversity in medicine by focusing on programs aimed at increasing the number of diverse and highly qualified medical professionals ready to introduce effective and innovative approaches to reduce or eliminate health disparities. These programs will improve information resources, clinical education, curricula, research, and cultural competence as they relate to minority health issues and social determinants of health. The year’s summit was a great success!   Copyright © 2022 Dongarwar et al. Published by Global Health and Education Projects, Inc. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License CC BY 4.0.

Introduction Burmese patients resettled in the United States as refugees constitute one of the country's largest refugee populations. As health inequities within the wider Asian and Asian American population have garnered more attention, medical professionals have worked to better understand how to provide care to Burmese and Burmese American patients. This workshop addresses the pressing need to provide culturally responsive care to this growing population. Methods Our interactive 60-minute workshop was developed to increase the knowledge and confidence of health care providers and trainees regarding the specific needs of Burmese communities in the United States. It was implemented once in person and twice virtually. The workshop included a PowerPoint presentation and case studies. Pre- and postworkshop evaluation forms assessed the effectiveness of the module. Results The workshop's 70 attendees included an interdisciplinary group of medical students, academic faculty, graduate students, and health care staff. Following module completion, all learning objectives were met. Paired-samples t tests revealed significant increases in average number of correct responses for all learning objectives. Discussion This module is part of a larger initiative to provide current and future health care providers with information to empower them to supply culturally responsive care to Burmese and Burmese American patients and their families. We offer recommendations for improving care for this patient population on individual, provider, and systemic levels. We hope that this module will inspire opportunities to advocate for change in policy and health care/research funding for Burmese and Burmese American patients.

ObjectivesEmergency departments serve a wide variety of racial, ethnic, socioeconomic, and gender backgrounds. It is currently unknown what characteristics of students who express interest in emergency medicine (EM) are associated with a simultaneous desire to work in medically underserved areas. We hypothesize that those who are underrepresented in medicine, are female, learn another language, and have more student debt will be more likely to practice in a medically underserved area.MethodsData from the National Board of Medical Examiners, Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) Student Record System, and the AAMC Graduation Questionnaire were collected on a national cohort of 92,013 U.S. medical students who matriculated from 2007 through 2012. Extracted variables included planned practice area, intention to practice in underserved areas, race/ethnicity, sex, medical school experiences, age at matriculation, debt at graduation, and first‐attempt USMLE Step 1 score.ResultsEM‐intending students who identified as female, non‐Hispanic Black/African American, or Latinx/Hispanic; had a larger debt at graduation; had experiences with health education in the community; had global health experience; and had learned more than one language were more likely to report an intention to practice in underserved areas.ConclusionWith the increasing importance of physician diversity to match those of the community being served, this study identifies factors associated with a desire of EM students to work in underserved areas. Medical schools and EM residencies may wish to consider these factors in their admissions process.