Residency

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

Christine Fernandez

262 Fernandez Christine 20210628

Recruitment
PGY-2
cfernandez@mcw.edu

Caitlin Pook

0153a Pook MD Caitlin 06282021 5x7c

Recruitment
PGY-2
cpook@mcw.edu

Alex Bryant

0258a Bryant MD MPH Alex 20210628 5x7c

Recruitment, Advocacy
PGY-2
albryant@mcw.edu

Omeed Ghassemi

092a Ghassemi MD Omeed 06282021 5x7c

Advocacy
PGY-2
oghassemi@mcw.edu

Marisa Roman

Marisa Roman MD

Recruitment, Retention
PGY-3
mroman@mcw.edu

Paul Otto

Otto Paul

Outreach
PGY-3
peotto@mcw.edu

Kelsey Wilson

Kelsey Wilson MD

Curriculum
PGY-3
kewilson@mcw.edu

Allison Jhin

Allison Behrndt DO

Curriculum
PGY-3
ajhin@mcw.edu

Chondraah Holmes, DO

Chondraah Holmes MD

Recruitment, Retention
PGY-3
chholmes@mcw.edu

Kaitlyn Miller, MD

Miller Kaitlyn

Recruitment, Retention
PGY-3
kaimiller@mcw.edu

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.