Background: Innovation in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) across medical institutions is an area of growing focus. However, some national medical societies struggle to connect with learners and faculty who are members of groups traditionally underrepresented in medicine (URiM). URiM learners in college and medical schools may face additional financial barriers when attending conferences that offer closer access to physicians in various medical specialty societies.
Purpose: We hypothesized that modifiable barriers to participation in medical society conferences by URiM students could be addressed at low cost to facilitate these individuals’ inclusion. Accordingly, we offer opportunities for URiM learners to meet with adult and pediatric hospital medicine and internal medicine physicians at national and regional conferences, to create opportunities for mentorship beyond the conference that will benefit learners who are interested in a career in medicine.
Description: We recruited faculty physicians who are active members of the Society of Hospital Medicine (SHM) & the Society of General Internal Medicine (SGIM) who are interested in mentoring or coaching URiM learners to serve as participants and sponsors of trainees.We contact local schools and URiM student organizations that are in the same city as each conference (e.g., Meharry Medical College in Nashville, TN, for SHM’s 2020 National Meeting). We then reach out to interested URiM pre-med and medical students and residents and offered free-of cost attendance; sign-up is first come, first served. For a half day at the conference, students and their lead mentor enjoy interactive sessions, an engaging lunch, and a roundtable with leaders in academic medicine who are invested in mentorship or coaching of URiM learners. Follow-up sessions include mock interviews, Q&A sessions about residency applications for medical students, abstract writing and scholarship coaching sessions, and “In Real Life” sessions where URiM medical students discuss their experience with URiM undergraduates.Participants described impacts through post-session emails. One SHM-Meharry 2022 cohort member obtained a sub-Internship at Johns Hopkins’ Division of Hospital Medicine, and others reported submitting post-conference residency applications & finding mock interviews helpful. The Xavier University of Louisiana-SGIM 2022 cohort connected with faculty mentors. A Post-conference session with Meharry & Emory medical students helped explore test prep courses and post-baccalaureate program vs applying directly to medical school. During 2024, 12 students attended 2 abstract writing virtual training sessions. Faculty felt a sense of connection and re-invigorated.
Conclusions: This innovation can be implemented at conferences across the US and can increase local pre-med to residents learners’ access to much-needed connection and guidance from willing faculty.