EDI News

Last week, more than 50 School of Medicine (SoM) faculty, staff and students – most members of the school’s Inclusion Council – attended a symposium, “Leading Diversity and Inclusion Change:  A Call to Action,” hosted by the SoM Office of Diversity & Inclusion.

Although the number of black men graduating from college continues to increase, the number of black men applying to medical school has dropped during the past 4 decades. Last year, the American Association of Medical Colleges (AAMC) released a report focused on this issue entitled, “Altering the Course: Black Males in Medicine.” In it, the AAMC reports that in 2014 1,337 black males applied to medical school compared to 1,410 in 1978.

This summer, 78 undergraduate college students from across the nation participated in the Summer Medical and Dental Education Program (SMDEP) at Duke University School of Medicine.  This six-week program was implemented to diversify the nation’s healthcare workforce by supporting young people who are underrepresented in medicine, minorities who are disadvantaged, or who wish to work in underserved communities and who have a passion for medicine.

The 4th Annual North Carolina Biosciences Collaborative Symposium took place on July 28 and 29 at Duke University. The two-day event, hosted by the Duke Biosciences Collaborative for Research Engagement Program (BioCoRE), included national expert speakers, workshops, and a poster session highlighting student research.

Duke University is in its 16th year offering their Summer Medical and Dental Education Program. Based on their interest in science fields, 80 students, were invited to jump in.

Duke University is committed to fostering an open, welcoming, inclusive community that respects each individual.  We remain steadfast in our policies of nondiscrimination and inclusion for all of our students, faculty, staff, alumni, patients, fans and visitors.

We deplore in the strongest possible terms the new state law, HB2, that prevents municipalities from establishing laws that protect members of the LGBTQ+ community and others from discrimination and eliminates some economic advancement opportunities for underrepresented communities.

Dear School of Medicine faculty, staff and students,

I was saddened and appalled by the North Carolina state legislature’s recent passage of House Bill 2 (HB2) and the Governor’s failure to use his power to reverse its discriminatory provisions. Understandably, HB2 has provoked outrage from organizations and individuals, both locally and nationally.  I would like to be explicit about the School of Medicine’s position.

The School of Medicine's Sherilynn Black, PhD, director of the Office of Biomedical Graduate Diversity and a principal investigator for the Biosciences Collaborative for Research Engagement (BioCoRE) is the Blue Devil of the Week. 

Read about Sherilynn and her work in science and on diversity issues in Duke Today

Duke University says activities on its campus will not be impacted by a new state law that prevents local governments from opening bathrooms for people to use based on their gender identity. The school released the following statement about the law, which was enacted on March 23rd:

"Duke University values every individual. We are committed to equality, diversity and inclusion, which makes us a better and stronger community. For that reason, we deplore any effort to deny any person the protection of the law because of sexual orientation or gender identity."

Dear Colleagues,

The past few weeks have been turbulent and troubling. Through the news we have witnessed horrible violence and terrorism in the Middle East, Europe and Africa. Closer to home we have seen racism, fear and exclusion on university campuses across the country, including our own. It is painful to hear of the intolerance and aggressions, but we need to listen to the voices that are speaking out.