Every person. Every action. Every time.
UW Health and the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health are committed to building a culture in which the values of diversity, equity, and inclusion are embedded into all of our clinical, teaching, and research activities.
We stand together with UW SMPH and UW Health prioritizing diversity and inclusion as core values in order to create a community of practice that is reflective of and responsive to the societies we serve. Through teaching, discovery, and advocacy, we hope to promote equity and access to quality healthcare.
As part of our mission to educate, mentor, and develop future leaders in Emergency Medicine, the BerbeeWalsh Department of Emergency Medicine is committed to:
- Supporting a team of providers and staff in the emergency department that reflects the diversity of our community in an effort to decrease healthcare disparities through diverse representation among our care providers.
- Providing dedicated, culturally sensitive, evidence-based training to develop clinicians who understand the needs of manifold and underrepresented populations.
- Educating and training ethnically, racially, and culturally diverse clinicians.
- Studying ethnic and racial disparities in healthcare, societal patterns of health inequity, and social needs contributing to disease, as well as developing solutions to decrease these disparities.
- Cultivating and maintaining an open, inclusive, and respectful learning and working environment.
If you are a member of an Underrepresented in Medicine (URM) population interested in shadowing or learning about a career in Emergency Medicine, please email our Clerkship Manager, Niki Hagen at nrhagen@medicine.wisc.edu. The Department of Emergency Medicine follows the AAMC’s definition of underrepresented in medicine 
when considering shadowing opportunities.
The University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health and UW Health are also proud to be founding signatories of TIME’S UP, pledging to provide their employees and trainees a safe, dignified, and equitable workplace.
Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
Our Approach
It is essential to engage learners in efforts aimed at dismantling racism and other contributors to health care disparities. To this end, the BerbeeWalsh Department of Emergency Medicine will:
- Recruit and support individuals with diverse backgrounds and identities who are pursuing a career in emergency medicine.
- Foster new and existing quality improvement projects and research that will advance our diversity mission and alleviate healthcare disparities.
- Assure the success and retention of a diverse cohort of residents and faculty through education and mentorship with both academic and community support.
- Care for all patients compassionately and without judgment of race, ethnicity, creed, gender, sexual orientation, physical ability, socioeconomic background or any other human factor
Department Actions
- The Department of Emergency Medicine maintains a holistic review process for all residency applications. We will not discriminate based on race, color, national origin, ancestry, age, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, pregnancy, marital status, religion, creed, arrest or conviction record, disability, disabled veteran status, Guard or Reserve status, and retaliation.
- Our student-faculty DEI Committee works to shape departmental diversity initiatives and to increase transparency and accountability by documenting our efforts and plans.
- The Women in Emergency Medicine Interest Group meets bimonthly to discuss gender bias in emergency medicine, foster gender equity, and develop strategies for both personal and professional success.
- EM faculty and residents volunteer four times each year at Madison’s Southside MEDiC Clinic, a free health care clinic. The MEDiC program aims to improve the health of the underserved in the Madison area while also enhancing the education of University of Wisconsin-Madison health professions students.
- While we have always aimed to recruit faculty with diverse backgrounds and areas of expertise, we will continue to expand our pool of faculty who have undertaken dedicated training in anti-racism, social justice, and the development of diversity, equity and inclusion curricula within graduate medical education.
Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Partners
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UW Health
The vision of UW Health is to be a leader in dismantling racism in ourselves, in our system and in our community. We’ve worked hard to improve our diversity, equity and inclusion over the past few years, but we know that what we’ve done is not enough. We need to do more, and we need to do better. To fulfill our vision, we are working to achieve three primary goals – create a culture of anti-racism and inclusion, deliver healthcare that is equitable and inclusive, and reduce health inequities by addressing social determinants of health.
UW Health Office of Graduate Medical Education
At UW Health, we want our GME programs to reflect the communities we serve. That’s why we make diversity, equity and inclusion top priorities. We’ve worked closely with residents, fellows, faculty, and staff to develop best practices and trainings to ensure that our work, study, research and health care environments are welcoming and supportive to everyone.
University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health
Diversity is central to the mission of the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health in meeting the health needs of the people of Wisconsin and beyond through excellence in education, research, patient care, and service.
UW-Madison Division of Diversity, Equity & Educational Achievement
The Division of Diversity, Equity & Educational Achievement’s priority is to: increase access for underrepresented minorities in STEM; eliminate the achievement gap between majority and underrepresented students; recruit and retain a more diverse faculty and staff; prepare all our students, staff and faculty to thrive personally and professionally in a world that is diverse, global and interconnected; enhance the campus climate for inclusion.
Campus Resources
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Bias Reporting
Bias Reporting: https://doso.students.wisc.edu/report-an-issue/bias-or-hate-reporting/
Diversity Inventory
Diversity Inventory, a centralized online database of diversity initiatives: diversityinventory.wisc.edu
Group on Women in Medicine and Science
Chaired by the Department of Emergency Medicine’s Vice Chair of Education, Dr. Mary Westergaard, this group engages women across the UW SMPH to amplify the lives of women in medicine and science and to work towards gender parity in healthcare and science fields. The group also conducts an annual symposium featuring a keynote speaker, panel discussion, and awards presentation. Speakers will explore opportunities, obstacles, and strategies for success for women in medicine and science.
HEAL Program
The Housestaff Emerging Academy of Leaders (HEAL) Program seeks to decrease health care disparities by increasing the number of underrepresented minority physician leaders in academic practice. The HEAL Program partners residents with a dedicated faculty mentor who supports them throughout a 10-month program that includes lectures focusing on leadership and professional development.
LGBT Campus Center
This center offers several programs to support LGBT students on campus and provides training to help make classrooms and departments more inclusive. The LGBTCC staff members also organize a number of special interest groups, including one for graduate students.
Multicultural Graduate Network
Multicultural Graduate Network
Sign up for the MGN email list by emailing join-mgnlistserv@lists.wisc.edu.
Housed within the Graduate School, the MGN is a social and networking group devoted to learning and professional development. This organization was originally created to serve the needs of graduate students of color and has recently grown to be an inclusive network for all graduate students on the UW-Madison campus.
Our Shared Future
Our Shared Future represents UW–Madison’s commitment to respect the inherent sovereignty of the Ho-Chunk Nation and the other First Nations of Wisconsin. It is a first step that calls on each of us—faculty, staff, and students—to deeply consider our shared past and present with Indigenous peoples in this place, Teejop, and to make our own personal and institutional commitments to achieve a shared future with them.
Our Shared Future is a process, not a land acknowledgement or something to recite. It is a collective act of moving together from ignorance to awareness; an educational framework for posing questions; and an opportunity to celebrate Ho-Chunk people, as well as learn about the hard truths of our histories with them. It is a challenge to educate ourselves and each other, and create a better future together.
Native American Center for Health Professions
Native American Center for Health Professions
Among its missions, NACHP is focused on enhancing the recruitment of Native students to UW-Madison health professional schools and programs and improving the Native health professional student experience.
STEM Diversity Network
While several programs on campus offer support to students, faculty and staff from diverse backgrounds, the STEM Diversity Network is a place designed to help all interested in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) careers specifically. This network exists to aid the academic and social advancement of students (undergrad, grad, postdocs) in STEM by providing students with connections to other students, faculty, and resources available to help them succeed.
UW Health Employee Resource Groups
UW Health Employee Resource Groups
These voluntary, employee-led Employee Resource Groups (ERG) foster a diverse, inclusive workplace aligned with organizational mission, values, goals, business practices and objectives that focus on the experience and perspectives of people of a particular race, ethnic or cultural background, gender, gender identity, religion, age cohort, sexual orientation, history of disabilities, military services, or similar other parameters.
UW SMPH Office of Multicultural Affairs
Office of Multicultural Affairs
The Office of Multicultural Affairs at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health strives to promote a climate that embraces diversity and supports professional development for all students.
White Coats for Black Lives
We support this national movement that aims to eliminate racial bias in the practice of medicine with the recognition that racism is a threat to the health and well-being of people of color. The UW SMPH chapter of the Student National Medical Association (SNMA) has created a local White Coats for Black Lives (WC4BL) Chapter housed under the umbrella of SNMA.