Diversity Equity & Inclusion / Community Outreach

The mission of the Diversity Equity and Inclusion committee is to create a more prosperous healing and working environment through the championing of the diverse communities we serve and hope to reflect. Our goal is to facilitate the purposeful creation and maintenance of a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive RUSH University Medical Center.  

The RUSH University Medical Center department of PM&R is committed to diversity within our residency, serving the community, and connecting students, residents, and fellows of color throughout the medical center. The RUSH PM&R residents currently have the opportunity to participate in Community Musculoskeletal Clinic, all Diversity Equity and Inclusion committee activities, and the STRIVE mentoring program. Our aspiration is to create an educational pipeline that will increase the number of underrepresented minorities in the medical field and specifically in PM&R.

The RUSH GME DEI committee was originally established by one of our former residents, Chris Hicks, MD, who chaired the committee during his residency. Following his graduation, our residents have continued to take an active role chairing the GME DEI committee including Kevin Baidoo, MD, Malcolm Moses-Hampton, MD, and Boss Povieng.  

This year, Dr. Tiffany Dyer is the programming director of the Hospital DEI initiatives and Dr. Marcos Henriquez is the chair of the Hospital DEI Committee for the Housestaff Association. 

Learn more about RUSH's DEI initiatives

Our residency program prides itself of ensuring our residents take an active role in community outreach specifically to better understand how socioeconomic disparities impacts patient care.  This year, our focus is on the following activities: 

• Community Musculoskeletal Health Clinic:  Residents participate in a monthly clinic to serve underserved Hispanic and Polish communities treating the patients for musculoskeletal problems. Residents work autonomously completing thorough MSK examinations, completing injections, using diagnostic ultrasound, and creating / demonstrating a home therapy treatment program.
• Westside Walk for Wellness (WW4W) in Garfield Park. Faculty members and residents have participated in walks and education sessions to help raise awareness of preventative medical conditions. The program is conducted in Garfield Park, a community with a 17-year death gap compared to life expectancy in Lincoln Park or other well-resourced communities.  
• The RUSH Immigrant Health Working Group (IHWG) is dedicated to making RUSH a more immigrant-friendly institution through improving policy, practices and operations 
• Global Health Initiatives (see below)

In years past, our program has participated in the following activities that we hope to revitalize in the future:

• Trainers in Training: Residents have partnered with local organizations to create seminars for Chicago Public School students with an interest in Health Care. Students are taught the basics of sports first aid to help with supporting high school athletic competitions.
• Disability Justice Mentor Collective (DJMC) via Access Living of Chicago: Faculty are involved with supervising medical students who give presentations to various youths with disabilities. Topics in the past have included: "Ableism," "Adaptive Sports," "Intersection between Race and Disability." 
• "Simposio para pacientes y cuidadores de la enfermedad de Parkinsons para la Comunidad Hispana y Latina de Chicago" (Symposium for Parkinsons Disease patients and caregivers in the Hispanic and Latin Community of Chicago): Faculty members were involved in an interdisciplinary collaborative talk educating Hispanics about Parkinson's Disease.
• Hispanic / LatinX COVID-19 Community Outreach: Education provided to Hispanic and Latinx community regarding COVID-19 and community resources in the city.