Diversity Training Series
Saint Louis University School of Medicine endeavors to be a national leader in diversity, equity and inclusion. As part of that process, we provide diversity and inclusion training consisting of four one-hour sessions for SLU School of Medicine departments.
Each session is designed to provide a greater understanding of what diversity means, how to define it, what aspects of diversity affect us (i.e., biases and prejudices), how it manifests in our daily thoughts and actions, how to recognize it, and how to mitigate biases.
The goal is to use education, firsthand experiences, and highly interactive exercises to shift the Saint Louis University School of Medicine culture from passive awareness to active allyship, where everyone takes ownership of facilitating a warm, welcoming, and supportive environment for people of all backgrounds.
Registration for scheduled training sessions will be available on our website or in Skillsoft. Please complete the request form below if you would like to schedule a training session for your department.
This interactive training aims to provide participants with a basic awareness of cultural diversity and explore how culture influences the workplace, campus and clinical care environment at SLU SOM.
Facilitators provide research and data to explain why all on campus should support diversity and inclusion initiatives. The terms “diversity” and “inclusion” are defined, and the differences are addressed.
Data supports the SLU SOM mission, which now includes the words "diversity" and "inclusion." Facilitators also provide data to address behaviors around the exclusion of others on campus (which happens in a variety of ways) and the understanding that every individual sees the world through their unique lens provided by their unique circle of family, friends, community, and society in which they have and/or currently reside. Interactive exercises illuminate these concepts.
Instructional mode: Lecture, group discussion, and interactive role-play.
Learning objectives: This 60-minute session will increase participants' awareness of how diversity impacts the workplace and their role in creating a welcoming space for all people.
Scheduled sessions are to be announced.
This interactive training aims to highlight the concept of unconscious bias and how it influences individuals on the medical school campus and in the clinical care environment.
Facilitators provide research and data demonstrating how unconscious bias is something every individual holds. It is inescapable. Consider this: Less than 15 percent of American men are over six foot tall, yet almost 60 percent of corporate Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) are over six feet tall. (Malcolm Gladwell discusses this phenomenon in his book, Blink, based on research conducted by Timothy Judge and Daniel Cable). Why does this happen? When conducting a CEO search, corporate boards of directors do not send out a message to "get us a tall guy," yet the numbers speak for themselves.
Utilizing a video clip from the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) regarding unconscious bias, participants can see a clear example of how it happens.
Instructional mode: Lecture, video presentation, group discussion, and interactive role-play.
Learning objectives: Participants are expected to exit the training with an understanding of how unconscious bias plays out in one’s personal and professional life and how it can be mitigated. Participants will be encouraged to engage in self-reflection, individuation, direct contact, and working together on teams.
This 60-minute session will result in participants articulating a commitment to the School of Medicine’s diversity and inclusion mission.
Scheduled sessions are to be announced.
This interactive training aims to facilitate the participant's articulation of commitment to developing an educational, work and clinical care environment that acknowledges, welcomes, and supports a multitude of cultures.
Facilitators provide research and data that continues to build the case for peak performance requiring diversity and inclusion. Facilitators will provide experiential exercises that continue to lean into new learning about unpacking bias and stepping into the shoes of others to increase understanding and break down barriers across differences.
Instructional mode: Lecture, video presentation, group discussion, and interactive role-play.
Learning objectives: Participants are expected to exit the training with an understanding of how micro-aggressions and other actions that undermine the SLU SOM mission can be addressed in a way that does not cause blame or guilt. Participants will be able to practice "speaking up" using specific techniques.
Scheduled sessions are to be announced.
This interactive training aims to provide participants with a plan of action for facilitating diversity and inclusion throughout the school of medicine.
Facilitators will provide research and data supporting the AAMC findings on diversity and inclusion. Through a video, participants will discuss personal responsibility to affect positive change on campus and in the community. Participants will engage in an activity that promotes the development of an action plan that can be implemented on a personal level and through teamwork.
Instructional mode: Lecture, video presentation, group discussion, and interactive role-play.
Learning objectives: Participants are expected to exit the training with a strong skill set and personal plan to proactively combat bias and prejudicial statements or behaviors on campus. Participants will have team-building language that empowers them to speak up and speak out when words or behaviors are not in alignment with the mission statement of the school of medicine and the larger campus.
This 60-minute session will result in participants shifting their perceptions to empathize with people from backgrounds other than their own and deepen their understanding of the phenomena that occur when cultures come into contact.
Scheduled sessions are to be announced.
Speaking to Diversity: Fundamental Diversity Education will be achieved after completing levels 1.0 through 4.0. The next level of training, offered as a six-hour "Building Inclusive Communities" course, will provide the fundamental knowledge for entering discussions with greater comfort and understanding of the opinions and differences of others.
Training Approach
- Set up specific group training within each department as requested
- Hold general sessions open to the school