The GDI aligns its efforts with those of the AAMC to assist medical schools, teaching hospitals, and academic and professional societies in navigating challenges, strengthening the communities we serve, and improving the health of people everywhere. Through its mission, the GDI seeks to cultivate an environment where people of different backgrounds and perspectives are respected and valued, fostering meaningful engagement and connection within institutions and the broader community.
Our Commitment
At the heart of the GDI’s work is the principle that diversity fosters a culture of excellence — in the classroom, in the laboratory, and in the clinical setting. Not only has research shown that a more diverse health care workforce is essential to building effective health care teams, but it is also critical to improving the health of vulnerable populations. The GDI helps address barriers faced by those groups underrepresented in medicine while steadfastly pursuing the overarching goals of serving underserved populations and eliminating health disparities.
The GDI’s efforts span the entire spectrum of academic medicine, highlighting the essential connection between diversity and the pursuit of excellence in medical education and health care. By fostering a culture that values these principles, the GDI supports transformative change in academic medicine and its associated communities.
Definitions
Diversity
Diversity encompasses mutual respect and the integration of multiple perspectives, which serves as a catalyst for transformative change. In this context, we acknowledge and value all dimensions of human differences, including but not limited to socioeconomic status, race, ethnicity, language, nationality, sex, religion, geography, disability, and age.
Inclusion
Inclusion is foundational to achieving meaningful diversity. It involves cultivating an institutional climate that nurtures respect and value for all individuals. Through professional development, education, policy innovation, and inclusive practices, institutions can create environments that encourage engagement and connection within their communities.
GDI priorities
The GDI has identified three strategic national priorities to guide its efforts:
- Faculty
- Promote fair recruitment, retention, and advancement practices for faculty.
- Foster mentorship and leadership opportunities to enhance representation and inclusivity in academic medicine.
- Graduate medical education (GME).
- Advocate for fair recruitment and training practices to best support patient populations.
- Address barriers to ensure equal opportunities for learners across all stages of GME.
- Professional development and institutional climate.
- Support initiatives that cultivate workplace cultures and institutional policies that respect and value all people.
- Develop resources and programs to enhance professional development opportunities for underrepresented groups.
Each priority encompasses both short- and long-term objectives, collaboratively developed through GDI membership and interdisciplinary partnerships. By addressing these priorities, the GDI advances its mission to cultivate excellence in academic medicine through supporting a health care workforce that is best equipped to meet the needs of a growing, aging, and increasingly diverse public.