Mother Child W Physician

Medical College of Wisconsin Pediatric Residency Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee

As pediatricians training in a city filled with its own diversity and rich cultural history, we recognize the importance of addressing diversity, health equity, and inclusion within our program. As such, the program is proud to recognize the presence and work of its Committee for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, a resident-based initiative 
doc kneel picture

Our Guiding Principles

DEI Photo 2To achieve these goals, we created a group with the following divisions:

  • Arm 1: Recruitment and Retention
  • Arm 2: Curriculum Advancement
  • Arm 3: Research
  • Arm 4: Inclusivity and Engagement

Recent Successes

  • Increased recruitment and retention efforts by hosting a pre-interview season mixer and multiple DEI social hours for interested residency and fellowship applicants 
  • Further development of a longitudinal cultural humility curriculum, encouraging discussion of systemic inequities and tools for providers to address them, ensuring ongoing dedication to the education of residents. Resident- and faculty-inclusive health equity focused presentations and efforts include:
    • Milwaukee-specific education and DEI introduction during intern orientation 
    • DEI Intern Morning Reports 
    • DEI Noon Conferences 
    • Senior-led Health Equity Rounds 
    • DEI Retreat Activities for each class 
    • Annual DEI Journal Club 
    • DEI Podcast Club 
    • DEI Book Corner 
  • Collecting a series of assessments to track resident knowledge, comfort, skills, and behavior in dealing with diversity in the workplace with the aim of using this information in scholarly activity to aid in further curricular development 
  • Engaging with the larger hospital system to ensure our dedication to diversity is sustainable and responding to feedback from outgoing and incoming physicians 
  • Engaging with fellowship and faculty dedicated to health equity to increase opportunities for curriculum development and research focused on our principles 

Future Goals

  • Continuing to enhance our cultural humility curriculum and its goals into a cornerstone that will live permanently and grow within our program 
  • Increasing recruitment and retention of residents that are traditionally underrepresented in medicine 
  • Creating established mentorship relationships for students, residents, and fellows interested in engaging with diversity, equity, and inclusion work throughout their careers 
  • Increasing our community engagement with the goal of learning from the experiences of our communities to improve the care we provide to all populations 

Committee Leadership

Alex Bryant

0258a Bryant MD MPH Alex 20210628 5x7c

Liaison
PGY-3

Lauren Von Zabern

1606a2 Von Zabern MD Lauren 06232022 5x7c

Advocacy
PGY-2

Sarah Wagner

1493a Wagner MD Sarah 06232022 5x7c

Advocacy
PGY-2

Katelyn Wray

1593a Wray DO Katelyn 06232022 5x7c

Curriculum
PGY-2

Janine Taitt

1613a Taitt MD Janine 06232022 5x7c

Curriculum
PGY-2

Michaela Simpson

Simpson Michaela

Recruitment
PGY-2

Evan Cross

1561a Cross DO Evan 06232022 5x7c

Recruitment
PGY-2

Camila Pareja Zabala

1543a Pareja Zabala MD Maria Camila 06232022 5x7c

Recruitment
PGY-2

Paul Otto

Otto Paul

Outreach/Engagement
PGY-4

Mari Vallejo

Vallejo Mari

Research
PGY-2

Alice Zhang

Zhang Alice

Research
PGY-3

Recent Graduates

  • Ashleigh Watson, MD
  • Michelle Hwang, MD
  • Oluwasoore Akande, DO
  • Robert Trevino, MD, PhD
  • Swathi Prasad, MD

Program Support and Resources

For questions or more information, please contact any of our resident representatives.