Diversity and Inclusion

Diversity Council Kick-Off during Rising Intern Orientation

The Boston Combined Residency Program in Pediatrics (BCRP) links the pediatric training programs of Boston Children’s Hospital and Boston Medical Center. With Boston being a minority majority city, both hospitals have at their core a commitment to diversity on all fronts including advancing community connection and partnership, reducing inequitable health care outcomes, and promoting and cultivating a diverse workforce that reflects our vibrant community and that fosters inclusive learning environments. This mission is reflected in both institutions operating active, BCRP-engaged offices of equity and inclusion, being designated LGBTQ Healthcare Leaders by the Healthcare Equity Index as well as the robust network of institutional resources dedicated to reaching these goals.

Providing children and families with the very best care requires an understanding of their physical, emotional, and cultural needs. For this reason, we seek diverse residents who possess intellectual curiosity, a passion for medicine, and a compassionate commitment to all patients and their families.

The BCRP embraces all forms of diversity including, but not limited to, race, ethnicity, disability, socioeconomic background, gender identity, sexual orientation, and life experiences, like being the first in your family to go to college. We also recognize and celebrate that many of us are a part of several of these communities. We are committed to recruiting and supporting a diverse resident workforce and have outlined the following goals:

To increase the number of BCRP housestaff from diverse groups, broadly defined as listed above.
To support trainees through faculty engagement, mentorship, education, innovation, and resident attendance to national conferences such as SNMA and LMSA.
To shape the professional development of a cadre of physicians who will become leaders in all aspects of pediatrics including patient care, research, medical education, health care policy and child advocacy.

Diversity Council

Annual Day on Martha’s Vineyard sponsored by the BMC Office of GME Physician Recruitment and Engagement

The Diversity Council is a robust, resident-led group made up of residents, fellows and faculty who come from a wide variety of backgrounds. All BCRP-affiliated residents and faculty are invited to join the Diversity Council. The Diversity Council manages its own BCRP-sponsored budget to fund group activities, educational opportunities, and other events at the discretion of its members.

Structure

The BCRP Diversity Council is led by multiple residents, faculty members and chief residents each year, including the BCRP Diversity Officer, two Associate Program Directors, and a Diversity Chief Resident at each site. The Council is divided into three working groups that each focus on an important part of the Council’s mission and are led by resident and faculty leaders who are dedicated to these ongoing efforts each year.

Working Groups

Recruitment:

Recruiting at the SNMA National Conference

Focuses on creating an inclusive environment for incoming applicants while also organizing opportunities for applicants to meet resident and faculty members of the Diversity Council. We offer the following programming each recruitment season to our applicants:

Mixers throughout the interview season with residents, fellows, and faculty who are a part of the Diversity Council in a relaxed atmosphere.
Council Connect! A program that pairs each applicant with a current BCRP resident via email to answer questions before, during, or after your interview.

Social: Works to build community and connection through events with members of the Diversity Council, broadly, in addition to each of the example affinity groups below (there are many more!) Affinity groups are open to residents, fellows and faculty of all backgrounds. We routinely host events to bring the Council together, including mixers and professional development sessions at faculty homes. In addition, the BCRP has an active group of residents dedicated to support of those with different levels of ability or managing chronic illnesses.

BCRPride
BlackCRP
Raíces/Latiné Residents
SARI-G (South Asian Resident Interest Group)

Education: Reviews and enhances our residency-wide curriculum to ensure that we are spending time educating our residents and faculty on topics that will improve their ability to care for our diverse patient populations. Highlights of this work include expansion of Health Equity Rounds to both hospitals and across the US, noon conferences focused on the concept of “Fit” in recruitment; journal clubs where we review new literature regarding outcome/access disparities and propose actionable items to incorporate into our practice as well as social media campaigns that highlight health inequities and evidence-based approaches to providing equitable care.

Diversity Council Community Arm members teaching in an elementary school

Community: Fosters and supports our surrounding community both within and outside the BCRP by providing opportunities for mentorship and collaboration with pathway programs within our partner institutions and community organizations, such as local schools. This year, we are also in our fourth year of MentorMed, which is an opt-in mentorship program that pairs residents from the Diversity Council with faculty based on shared interests, passions, and paths.

SNMA, LMSA, and the APA New Century Scholars Program

The BCRP is dedicated to supporting professional networking while actively participating in important national organizations like SNMA and LMSA. The program thus sponsors residents to attend both national and regional conferences annually through funding and clinical coverage. Our residents have also been successful at securing acceptance into the APA’s New Century Scholars Program annually. Lastly, the BCRP established an “Ally Pool” in the 2023-2024 Academic Year, which is a volunteer group of allies who offer to cover residents in clinical settings to support their attendance at conferences and significant recruitment/networking events. The following are examples of some of the events covered by the Pool in our pilot year:

National Medical Association Pediatric Conference (July 2023)
BMC GME Martha’s Vineyard Trip (August 2023)
BWH Summer Cookout (September 2023)
BWH Annual Retreat (April 2024)
LMSA National Conference (September 2023)
SNMA Regional Conference (November 2023)
AMSPDC Frontiers in Science (February 2024)
SNMA National Conference – AMEC (March 2024)
New Century Scholars Pre-Conference Sessions at PAS (May 2024)
Juneteenth (June 2024)