SPOKANE, Wash.\u2014The Washington State University Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine has received the 2024 Health Professions Higher Education Excellence in Diversity (HEED) Award from Insight Into Diversity magazine, the oldest and largest diversity-focused publication in higher education.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The college joins WSU Vancouver as the only WSU units to receive a HEED Award, a national honor recognizing U.S. health colleges and universities that demonstrate an outstanding commitment to diversity and inclusion. The WSU College of Medicine will be featured with 70 other recipients in Insight Into Diversity’s November\/December 2024 issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis recognition is not about the award but is an affirmation of the collective work we are engaged in to improve diversity, equity, and belonging in our educational programs and to promote health equity across the state,\u201d said David Garcia, associate dean for community, health equity, and belonging at the College of Medicine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Insight Into Diversity selected the college based on a variety of initiatives, including:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe Health Professions HEED Award process consists of a comprehensive and rigorous application that includes questions relating to the recruitment and retention of students and employees\u2014and best practices for both\u2014continued leadership support for diversity, and other aspects of campus diversity and inclusion,\u201d said Lenore Pearlstein, publisher of Insight Into Diversity magazine. \u201cWe take a detailed approach to reviewing each application in deciding who will be named a Health Professions HEED Award recipient. Our standards are high, and we look for schools where diversity and inclusion are woven into the work being done every day across their campus.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The College of Medicine\u2019s commitment to practicing these values and improving access to quality care is evident in its admissions processes. Research shows that patients experience better health outcomes<\/a> when they see a provider with the same gender, race, ethnicity, or other attributes as them. To recruit students who are historically underrepresented in medicine, the college uses a holistic review process that considers not only test scores and grades but also personal attributes and experiences that demonstrate applicants\u2019 commitment to serving Washington\u2019s rural communities, Tribal Nations, and other marginalized communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That holistic admissions process has been effective at recruiting diverse cohorts of future health care professionals. The MD program\u2019s class of 2025\u20132028, for instance, exceeds national averages<\/a> for the rate of matriculated students who have served in the military (7.8% vs. 0.7%), are first generation college graduates (29% vs. 16.6%), have low socioeconomic status (39.1% vs. 31.2%), or are women (62.5% vs. 55.4%). Additionally, 14.4% of the class are American Indian or Alaska Native, Black\/African American, or Hispanic. (Race and ethnicity are not considered in admissions per law but reported only as additional demographics of the class.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis medical school was founded by the people and for the people,\u201d said Garcia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As part of its five-year strategic plan<\/a>, the college plans to expand its initiatives to foster excellence and diversity in its academic programs, operationalized through a variety of measurable goals. The college will also collaborate with community partners to advocate for and build a better health care ecosystem that reduces health inequities, training practitioners to care for the underserved in Washington communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe thank our community partners, tribes, grassroots organizations, and the college\u2019s students, staff, and faculty for their ongoing commitment to fulfilling our vision of a healthier, equitable Washington for all,\u201d said Garcia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Stephanie Engle, WSU Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine Communications and Marketing, 509-368-6937<\/a>, stephanie.engle@wsu.edu<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Washington State University Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine has received the 2024 Health Professions Higher Education Excellence in Diversity (HEED) Award from Insight Into Diversity magazine, the oldest and largest diversity-focused publication in higher education.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25158,"featured_media":32024,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5],"tags":[102,38,78],"wsuwp_university_location":[],"wsuwp_university_org":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/medicine.wsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32013"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/medicine.wsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/medicine.wsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medicine.wsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25158"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medicine.wsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32013"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/medicine.wsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32013\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32430,"href":"https:\/\/medicine.wsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32013\/revisions\/32430"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medicine.wsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32024"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/medicine.wsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32013"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medicine.wsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32013"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medicine.wsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32013"},{"taxonomy":"wsuwp_university_location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medicine.wsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wsuwp_university_location?post=32013"},{"taxonomy":"wsuwp_university_org","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medicine.wsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wsuwp_university_org?post=32013"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Media Contact<\/h2>\n\n\n\n