Developing a Diverse EM Faculty by Thinking Strategically About the Pipeline That Leads From Student to Clinician
RACISM AS A PUBLIC HEALTH CRISIS
By Nancy Wood MPA, MS and Beau Abar PhD on behalf of the SAEM Grants Committee
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Undergraduate emergency medicine (EM) research enroller programs have served as a pipeline to support students considering a career in medicine, engaging them in research and, in many cases, instilling a passion for EM. Many end up in EM residencies and become our colleagues in emergency departments across the country. Recently, the societal unrest following George Floyd’s death and the resulting attention to the Black Lives Matter movement has prompted us to reflect on and intensify our division’s efforts to diversify the population of student enrollers working in our emergency department (ED). Several years ago, we began considering changing the model of our ED Research Associate (EDRA) program to include classes for credit prior to hiring students into paid positions. In the past, we hired undergraduates into parttime positions and trained them
“the vision of the class model held by program leadership was to provide underrepresented students of color with experiences that would help them compete with students experiencing privilege.” after hiring. The proposed new model, instead, first required students to take a new four-credit public health class providing all of the initial training and field experience to prepare a student to work in ED research. Enrollment in the class was capped at 16 students per semester, with applications required for admittance. Successful completion of the class became a prerequisite
to being hired into a parttime EDRA position. There was initial hesitation about this idea, with team members arguing that under this system only the students who were financially stable could give up paid employment to work in the ED “for free,” as the class involved committing to time spent working in the ED as well as classroom instruction. There was
