Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine, Assistant Program Director
Indiana University School of Medicine, Indiana, United States
I am an Emergency Medicine (EM) Physician and behavioral scientist with an interest in health behavior decision making, closing the gap on health disparities, particularly those around sexual and reproductive health (SRH) issues, in the emergency department (ED), and Justice, Equity Diversity and Inclusion (JEDI) in graduate medical education. My past work includes studies on the development of decision-making models in the areas of Human Papillomavirus and Human Immunodeficiency Virus vaccination, duty to care during the 2014 Ebola Virus Disease outbreak, and the recruitment of minoritized populations into academia. My current research includes mixed-methods studies focused on patient-centered management of miscarriages in the ED; improving access to family planning services in underserved ED populations including minoritized populations and those with substance abuse disorders; and intervention development for the initiation of Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis in the ED.
My work in JEDI began as a resident at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School where I worked with BNGAP (Building the Next Generation of Academic Physicians) to improve recruitment of minoritized populations into academic medicine. As EM faculty I obtained a Racial Justice Research grant to explore recruitment and retention of residents from backgrounds underrepresented in medicine (URiM) to Indiana University (IU). I continued JEDI work as an Assistant Program Director for the Emergency Medicine Residency. In this role I have been able to restructure the residency recruitment process to decrease systemic biases, which resulted in a 30% increase in residents from URiM backgrounds in just one year. I have also restructured the residency curriculum to integrate JEDI throughout the curriculum, developed adjuncts such as a JEDI checklist for all persons giving presentations to our residents, and developed a resident book club to discuss topics related to JEDI. I am currently working with the simulation division on developing a longitudinal simulation curriculum aimed at the identification of and response to micro/macroaggressions in the ED, among other JEDI efforts within the residency and throughout the department as a whole. With my JEDI experience in conjunction with my extensive training in behavioral research, intervention development and evaluation, and mixed methods research including quantitative surveys and qualitative methods, I believe I have the ability to contribute meaningfully to this didactic session.
I do not have any relevant financial / non-financial relationships with any proprietary interests.