Signaling Allyship: Preliminary Outcomes of a Faculty Curriculum to Support Minoritized Learners.

Abstract

Purpose: U.S. medical schools continue to foster racism, homophobia, and transphobia through underrepresentation of racial, ethnic, sexual, and gender minorities. 1–3 Minoritized individuals experience discrimination and trauma, often with little support. 1–3 An informal preliminary needs assessment 4 of minoritized learners at our institution indicated that, due to faculty underrepresentation, they were uncertain about which faculty were safe to discuss discrimination- and diversity-related issues with. This was compounded by the size and geographic disbursement of our faculty (over 5,000 faculty at 21 U.S. military hospitals). To address this uncertainty, we created a curriculum culminating in a visible signal to learners—a lapel pin—that a faculty member is trained as an ally. Our purpose is to report on preliminary outcomes of this innovation. Approach: Inspired by critical pedagogy, we developed a curriculum to create spaces for dialogue, with a focus on the transformative power of language. 5 We developed 3 objectives for faculty participants: understanding the impacts of discrimination on medicine, analyzing how intersecting identities and privilege shape them, and voicing a commitment to transformative work. We created a flexible online curriculum including (1) 9 credit hours to be chosen from a menu of thirteen 90-minute workshops (with a different topic taught each month, varying days and times), (2) participation in and written reflection on a journal club (offered monthly), and (3) a final written reflection discussing specific allyship plans. We used our institution’s faculty development program, offered to all health professions instructors at our 21 sites. We evaluated for inclusion the program’s existing workshops addressing issues like implicit bias and cross-cultural mentorship, choosing 12. We also developed a flagship required workshop addressing the transformative and oppressive potentials of language. To optimize interaction, workshops were limited to 30 learners and breakouts facilitated dialogue. Curriculum faculty read all reflections and provided feedback. Workshops were evaluated through an email form, asking about material quality and usefulness and knowledge gained. The curriculum will be evaluated at 6 months and via surveys to participants and students. Outcomes: We launched the curriculum in early September at an in-person faculty conference and began advertising through the institution’s Diversity Committee and Faculty Development Office. Within weeks, workshops were filled through April 2022. Between September and early December, we delivered 475 curriculum credits to 239 faculty members and approximately 50 attended each monthly journal club. While workshop evaluations had low response rates (9%, n = 29), all but one participant (97%) rated the workshops as excellent and planned to apply what they had learned often or daily. The initial written reflections discuss “eye opening” or “transformative” experiences and apply curriculum content to themselves and their work. While responses are positive, we are struggling to meet the increased demand since instructors were not granted protected time to deliver the curriculum. Meanwhile, we wrestle with our language, considering whether “disruptor” or “co-conspirator” might be more powerful than “ally,” and also potentially alienating to participants. Significance: This allyship curriculum is a novel addition to our faculty development program. While we await our first formal evaluation (including undergraduate learner feedback), we already believe this model could help institutions educate and develop faculty regarding discrimination and diversity and signal to students which faculty are interested in supporting minoritized students. Use of an established platform for registration and tracking, supportive administrators, and a genuine faculty desire for transformative, nonjudgmental training in these areas are responsible for the success of our program to date. Space for faculty dialogue and reflection can be transformative as they realize the power in their language. As Freire says: “to speak a true word is to transform the world.” 5(p87) Acknowledgments: The authors wish to thank Ryan Landoll, Patcho Santiago, and Jonathan Scott for their contributions to the allyship program.