Since the inception of the Heersink School of Medicine Office for Diversity & Inclusion, we have been striving to create a more diverse and inclusive place for all. To do this, we take an active role in recruiting people from diverse backgrounds. As we continue to bring more people from underrepresented in medicine (URiM) and minority groups, it becomes equally important that we cultivate an institutional climate that supports and nurtures their development.

Helping us facilitate this goal are our faculty associations.

Having launched in 2020 with both Black/African American and Hispanic & Latin American groups, our faculty associations aim to:

• Encourage communication, networking, mentoring, and professional development, as well as serve as a voice for cultural and educational concerns among our faculty.
• Serving to improve the recruitment and retention of our URiM and minority faculty, trainees, and medical students and promote engagement within the school.
• Advocating for their diverse community to enhance multicultural awareness, diversity, and inclusion in healthcare.

Now, in 2021, we have added another faculty association, Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI).

The AAPI faculty association is co-led by Herb Chen, M.D., FACS and Warner Huh, M.D., FACOG, FACS. Within the association there are six committees that hold regular meetings to discuss the following:

• Communications and Dissemination
• Social and Networking
• Advocacy and Community Engagement
• Leadership Training
• Pipeline Programs
• Membership

Each committee is made up of chair/co-charis and members with distinct goals for how they will contribute to the mission and vision of the group.

We look forward to seeing all the wonderful things our faculty associations accomplish and the ways in which they help create community at the Heersink School of Medicine.