The University of Chicago Pediatrics Residency Program recognizes the importance and value of a diverse workforce to identify and meet the needs of our patients and to address health inequities and injustices.
We aim to foster a supportive and inclusive environment that values the unique contributions of each trainee.
There are a number of resources throughout the University and within the medical center to support diversity and inclusion:
- Office of the Provost Diversity and Inclusion
- Diversity and Inclusion within the Biological Sciences Division (BSD)
- Department of Pediatrics Diversity and Inclusion
- House Staff Diversity Committee
- Out Faculty at BSD
Resource groups foster diversity and inclusion by helping create safe and welcoming environments where an individual’s race, ethnicity, gender, levels of ability, religious beliefs, sexual orientation/gender identity and other important personal attributes are viewed as organizational assets. RGs are open to all members of the University of Chicago community including faculty, staff, post-doctoral researchers, residents, and students, and include (among others):
- Black Men Engaged Hispanic/LatinX LGBT+ Muslim Inclusion Pan-Asian Disability Inclusion Black in Academia
We are extremely proud of the efforts of past and present residents to foster inclusion, promote diversity in the medical workforce, and to address structural racism and systematic inequities in healthcare. Examples of this meaningful work include:
- Dr. Chidimma Acholonu was the past Co-President of the House Staff Diversity Committee
- Former resident, Dr. Nicholas Venturelli, received an Office of Diversity & Inclusion Award to create pediatric residents and faculty ID cards to declare personal pronouns and to link to resources
- Docs Back To School also received an Office of Diversity & Inclusion Award to support this resident-developed (former residents Drs. Cameron Boyd and Jasmine Thomas, and current chief-resident Dr. Chidimma Acholonu) mentorship and pipeline program with a Southside Chicago Elementary School. The goal of this program is to intentionally engage a Chicago Public School to impact the educational pipeline and empower students to take ownership of their own health and wellness, while addressing health literacy and rebuilding trust in the medical community.
- Our resident-developed and led Structural Competency Curriculum that seeks to partner with our community to understand institutional, systemic, and medical racism in order to better serve our patients.
The Department of Pediatrics invites soon-to-be and/or current MSIV to apply for a Visiting Clerkship for Underrepresented in Medicine. All of our courses open to visiting students can be applied to concurrently with this opportunity. For details regarding the application process, program details, and what financial assistance we are able to provide, please visit the Pritzker School of Medicine page.
