PCOM's Commitment to Diversity

As we confront racism and discrimination that has permeated our country we are called to reflect on what we can do to dismantle systemic barriers to justice and equality throughout society.

Collectively, as an institution that educates osteopathic physicians, allied health professionals and behavioral scientists, we have a responsibility to address structural racism and inequities that create and perpetuate health care disparities in marginalized communities.

To that end, I want to share with you some of the commitments that our College has been working toward during the past year:

• We have created a 2025 Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Strategic Plan to be launched in July. The plan proffers a means for PCOM to embed diversity, equity and inclusion in its curriculum, policies, processes and practices to advance student, faculty and staff performance as well as excellence in PCOM’s service to communities. Intentionality is at the core of the initiatives; this includes continued and enhanced pointed recruitment and retention of students who are underrepresented in medicine.
• Community Gatherings have provided—and continue to provide—an intellectual space for faculty, staff, and students to pause for critical reflection and honest (in many instances painfully so) conversations. As a result of these hard discussions, executive leadership has been charged with developing and implementing proactive action steps that foster diversity, inclusion, and belonging for all members of the campus community.
• New curricular sections—across programs and locations—are being dedicated to disparities in health care, allocation of healthcare resources and public health issues referencing cultural, economic, and ethnic concerns. Trainings in microaggressions in medicine have already been added to the DO curriculum.
• A myriad of educational trainings and webinars for students, faculty and staff, offered by the Office of Diversity and Community Relations, unpack issues of racism and injustice.
• Various lecture series enhance the cultural competency skills of medical students.
• A Cultural Humility in Medicine Symposium, hosted by SNMA, features workshops on culture, race, religion, ethnicity, gender and socioeconomic status as they relate to patient care and the overall healthcare system.

Finally, so as to address the major issues you have articulated as of late, I am announcing that within the coming weeks, the College will be naming a task force that will be led by Marcine Pickron-Davis, PhD, chief diversity and community relations officer, that will include stakeholders across our three locations to work with an external consultant, generating a list of priorities, accelerating, and advancing PCOM’s ongoing commitment to justice, equity, diversity and inclusion. This task force will supplement and augment the work done by Dr. Pickron-Davis’ Office of Diversity, Inclusion and Community Relations and the College’s diversity councils.

I invite you to join me to lean in and embrace new ways of advancing our diversity and inclusion mission and vision.

Jay S. Feldstein, DO ’81
President and Chief Executive Officer

The Office of Diversity and Community Relations creates and promotes:

• A climate of inclusion and support.
• Academic diversity.
• Access and equity in student recruitment.
• Access and equity in hiring practices.
• Community outreach and partnerships.

The Office of Diversity and Community Relations plans the following initiatives through 2020:

• Raise the profile of PCOM’s commitment to diversity and inclusion.
• Collaborate with Admissions on identifying affiliations with regional HBCU’s/HSI’s
• Design an action plan using results from the 2015 Campus Climate Survey, PCOM 2020 Strategic Plan and the annual Higher Education in Excellence Diversity (HEED) self-study
• Target and attract underrepresented male undergraduate pre-med or science majors to consider careers in medicine.
• Broaden opportunities for medical students to engage in community-based research.
• Expand curriculum to include LGBT-inclusive health care.
• Host annual summer pipeline initiative for underrepresented local high school students.
• Expand PCOM’s footprint in the greater Philadelphia, Georgia and South Georgia regions.
• Launch PCOM Safe Space workshops to promote a welcoming campus community for LGBTQIA faculty, staff and students.