Training & Initiatives

In order to advance the health of our communities on both the local and global levels, provide the best clinical care, conduct innovative research and educate the leaders of tomorrow, Washington University School of Medicine (WUSM) is committed to continuously striving to be a culture that supports diversity, inclusion, critical thinking and creativity.

The School of Medicine’s mission, vision, and commitment to these goals are at the heart of all diversity and inclusion initiatives.  To accomplish these goals as a community, we at WUSM:

  • Work together to create a climate of mutual respect in the workplace
  • Attract and develop a diverse and talented student body and workforce
  • Create awareness and understanding of the value of diversity and inclusion
  • Assist in developing innovative programs that addresses the unconscious bias that leads to health disparities

University-wide initiatives provide additional opportunities for Washington University faculty, staff and students, along with friends and visitors to the Danforth Campus and Washington University Medical Center, to participate in activities and programs focused on diversity and inclusion.

Fundamental diversity education: group-based training for departments, programs and other business units

Diversity and inclusion leaders provide a series of four, one-hour training sessions on the fundamentals of diversity education. Each session is designed to provide a greater understanding of:

  • What diversity means and how to define it
  • What aspects of diversity affect us (i.e., biases and prejudices)
  • How biases and prejudices manifest in our day-to-day thoughts and actions
  • How to recognize and mitigate biases and prejudices when we do encounter them

Facilitators use a standard format in each session that consists of psycho-educational presentations in the form of data from research presented in PowerPoint, and interactive, hands-on and experiential exercises to illuminate the concepts being presented.

Schedule a training session for your department, program or division >>

New Employee Orientation (NEO)

As of 2014, Washington University School of Medicine’s Human Resources Department incorporated formal diversity and inclusion training into its New Employee Orientation process.  The first of the four Diversity and Inclusion training sessions is provided to all new employees.

To schedule New Employee Orientation please contact Human Resources.

New Manager Orientation (NMO)

Each quarter, WUSM diversity and inclusion leaders facilitate a 3.5-hour training session for new managers that includes experiential activities, short lectures, and group interactions.  The learning objectives are to:

  • Increase awareness of the diverse workforce
  • Develop ways to contextualize our similarities and differences
  • Develop an understanding of unconscious bias
  • Analyze the impact of bias and how it can define communication
  • Create and communicate strategies to limit the negative impact of bias in our campus community

To schedule New Manager Orientation please contact Human Resources.

Other training modules

WUSM diversity and inclusion leaders also facilitate additional topic-specific presentations for groups on the following:

  • Communication Across Cultures
  • Generations in the Workplace
  • Cultural Awareness
  • “Isms”
  • Unconscious Bias
  • Disability in the Workplace:  A Guide to Inclusion

These training modules can also be reserved using the Training Request Form.