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Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion: Goals

Goals

Charlotte AHEC’s Approach to Meeting the Social Impact Goal


Measure / Tasks – DEI councils representing the different domains within the Medical Education division. Development of strategies to increase diversity among teammates, faculty, and learners.

  • Threshold - DEI councils to be established for Charlotte AHEC, Carolinas Simulation Center, Carolinas College of Health Sciences and Cabarrus College of Health Sciences. The teams will decide whether each unit will have its own council, or whether groupings / coordination of efforts is more appropriate.

Charlotte AHEC’s Strategy: Develop a council of 3-5 AHEC staff that will convene monthly beginning September of 2021. This council will strategically align and meet the goals of both Atrium Health’s Diversity Council infrastructure as well as NC AHEC diversity goals. The AHEC Director for Diversity will chair the council. The Director of Diversity and AVP of Charlotte AHEC will select council members who will then serve 1-year terms with the option to renew their term once with prior approval. Incorporating terms will keep ideas fresh and give others within AHEC that are interested in serving an opportunity to do so.


Current Members:
- Michelle Boyd – Chair
- Brenda Almeyda – Co-Chair
- Paulina Crass
- Renee Leonard
- Sophia Moore-Dennis
- Joann Spaleta


Status: Complete. Council formed and meeting regularly.

  • Target – Threshold plus develop and implement a robust strategy related to teammate / faculty / student recruitment and incorporate education on microaggressions / implicit bias as applicable for each group.

Charlotte AHEC’s Strategy: Joann Spaleta has assigned two learning modules to all AHEC staff: 1) Dr Emily MacNeil’s From Awareness to Action: Implicit Bias and Microaggression and 2) Atrium’s Your Role in Workplace Diversity. This will provide AHEC staff with a solid foundation with hopes of building on this foundational knowledge.
Student recruitment goals are accomplished through the Charlotte AHEC Scholars and HEROES programs. Our goal is to diversify the healthcare workforce and increase access to care to eliminate health disparities.


Status: Complete. All AHEC Teammates have completed the educational training and Health Careers recruitment programming is underway.

  • Stretch – Target plus achievement of at least two of the following: One of the two will include number four:

1. Develop a strategic plan for teammate / faculty recruitment that will result in demonstrable increase in diversity over the next five years.Charlotte AHEC’s Strategy: With the assistance of the Charlotte AHEC DEI Council, the Leadership Team will receive tips and techniques on how to recruit faculty and/or subject matter experts that represents the population that we serve.

Status: Complete. A list of DEI/health equity examples has been shared with the AHEC CPD team. Brenda has developed a LibGuide where we will collect a running list of DEI/health equity examples and other resources.

2. Evolve student pipeline programs into longitudinal experiences with committed ongoing mentorship opportunities

Charlotte AHEC’s Strategy: Student pipeline/pathway goals are accomplished through the Charlotte AHEC Scholars and HEROES programs. Our goal is to diversify the healthcare workforce and increase access to care to eliminate health disparities. Through a statewide data tracking system, we can conduct longitudinal studies on our students. The Scholars program includes a mentoring component through our regional advisory committee.

Status: Complete. Currently using HETRS to track students with follow-up surveys every 2-3 years.

3. Partner with the Foundation to develop a plan to optimize the benefits of the Bishop George E. Battle Jr. Scholarship Fund

Charlotte AHEC’s Strategy: Dr. Mary Hall has formed a small committee and Michelle Boyd participates.

Status: Complete.

4. Intentional incorporation of DEI topic/objective into each Charlotte AHEC team activity (meetings, huddles) and educational programming for learners.

Charlotte AHEC’s Strategy: Charlotte AHEC DEI Council will provide a list of resources and send reminders to CPD directors to incorporate an objective into their programs - 50% is the goal. The council will also stay abreast of any DEI hot topics that teams could discuss in their team huddles or meetings.

Status: Complete.