Diversity
We strongly value diversity in our faculty, staff and student body.
Diversity Statement:
The mission of the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Tucson is to create an inclusive environment where all students, residents/fellows, faculty and staff will thrive. We seek to engage a diverse constituency that values equity and inclusion, celebrates our differences, builds advocates and allies, and excels in training to provide equitable care and biomedical research to benefit all patients.
The University of Arizona College of Medicine – Tucson is located in the southwestern region of the United States and sits on the original homelands of indigenous peoples who have stewarded this land since time immemorial. We recognize and acknowledge the people, culture and history that make up the Wildcat community. Recognizing this privilege, respect for all dimensions of diversity is essential to the successful attainment of our mission. We are committed to promoting health, improving wellness and diagnosing and treating disease for all the people of Arizona and beyond, through innovation in education, research, and patient care.
The UA College of Medicine – Tucson expresses its commitment to diversity by:
- Educating, training and employing diverse students, residents/fellows, faculty and staff,
- Fostering the development of personal attributes in each member of its academic community that are necessary to achieve its mission,
- Encouraging and supporting culturally relevant scholarly activities, that acknowledge and respect systems of healing that emerge from different traditions, and
- Providing a culturally humble, inclusive and respectful environment.
This commitment to diversity enables us to provide state of the art education, deliver the highest quality health care, critically address health care inequities, and perform leading edge research to benefit all our communities.
Diversity Dimensions
In order to enhance the diversity of our academic community, to ensure inclusiveness in hiring and retaining qualified faculty and staff, and to admit qualified and culturally competent students, the University of Arizona College of Medicine (UA COM) has collaboratively developed and adopted a Diversity Statement, which demonstrates its commitment to a broad definition of diversity. To implement that commitment, the college is engaging in meaningful outreach efforts to optimize the pool of diverse faculty and staff applicants, and to attract a diverse student body. The UA COM is making efforts to develop specific approaches to measure its success in recruiting, retaining and attracting diverse individuals to the college’s faculty, staff and student body by identifying certain measurable characteristics within these groups.
For faculty and staff, the specific criteria on which the UA COM is measuring its success in increasing diversity include growing the numbers of women and members of racial and ethnic minorities traditionally underrepresented in medicine with specific focus on Latino/Hispanic and Native Americans through appropriate outreach and support activities. Although race, ethnicity and gender are not considered in making hiring decisions, they are evaluated as measures of the College’s success in widening its pool of qualified applicants and in retaining qualified individuals after hire. These criteria can be identified by examining post-hire documents to determine whether the COM's diversity goals are being met. Additionally, the UA COM will develop surveys so that individuals can self-identify other criteria that fall within the COM's diversity statement. The college also aspires to develop programs that will increase the number of faculty and staff who demonstrate cultural competency and bilingual abilities.
Organizations
Women in Medicine and Science (WIMS)
Women in Medicine and Science (WIMS) is a grass-roots organization that emerged in the late 1990s as a forum for discussion of issues women face at the College of Medicine – Tucson.
Office of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
The Office of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion at the College of Medicine – Tucson was created in 2012 to elevate diversity and inclusion as an important strategic priority for the College of Medicine. The office includes the Office of Global and Border Health and the Hispanic Center of Excellence.
The office provides cultural competency training for the College of Medicine community; develops metrics and processes to assess diversity, equity and inclusion efforts; and identifies strategies to increase diversity and inclusion at the College.