Programs/Initiatives

Closing the diversity gap in the health professions and improving the quality of health care for underserved communities are the main objectives of our programs and initiatives. Increasing diversity in the health care workforce creates opportunities to begin working toward improving access to care and eliminating health disparities.

Our philosophy includes a five-pronged approach:

  1. Starting early in the pipeline;
  2. Working at multiple junctures along the health professions pathway;
  3. Cross-collaborating among health science schools;
  4. Developing culture to increase retention of faculty, staff, and students;
  5. Effectively leveraging and integrating partnerships.

The projects featured below, as well as many other projects health science-wide at Pitt, are essential to creating a health care workforce that resembles our very diverse nation.

 

Post-baccalaureate Programs

Post-baccalaureate programs are available for those individuals who wish to pursue careers as physicians, dentists, veterinarians, optometrists or pharmacists and do not have the prerequisite courses or experiences to apply to these programs.

Physician Diversity Quality Improvement Process (2008 - 2009)

This quality improvement process addressed the experiences and decision-making of underrepresented physicians who trained at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

Research and Enrichment Programs

Participants in our health sciences schools programs benefit from academic and clinical research and enrichment experiences that enhance their preparation for applying to health professions schools. 

Social Justice Faculty Fellowship Program

Participants in our Social Justice Faculty Fellowship Program benefit from social justice instruction and community engagement experiences that enhance their capacity to bring a social justice lens to their care, research and service. 

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Training and Enrichment

Health Sciences Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) training and enrichment, including workshops and trainings founded in the goal to make the Health Sciences more just.

NIH Diversity Supplements

The Office of the Senior Vice Chancellor for the Health Sciences and the Office of Research for Health Sciences are focused on assisting applications for the NIH Research Supplements to Promote Diversity in Health-Related Research. This funding opportunity is a supplement to an existing NIH grant that offers salary support and often research funds to candidate faculty and post-doctoral fellows for 2 years. Candidates are eligible if they are part of a historically underrepresented group based on gender, race, ethnicity, disability status, or socioeconomic status. For a complete description of PI and candidate eligibility, please see the official program announcement.

Race and Social Determinants of Equity, Health and Well-Being Cluster Hire and Retention Initiative

This initiative will transform Pitt’s expertise in, and research on, Race and Social Determinants of Equity, Health and Well-Being.

Health Disparities and Social Justice Poster Competition

Instituted in 2010, the Schools of the Health Sciences sponsors a yearly Health Disparities and Social Justice Poster Competition.

HS Story

The HS Story is the Health Sciences Diversity, Equity and Inclusion profile of partners in the work to achieve social justice and for whom work towards disrupting health inequities by infusing humanity into health care and wellness.

The Dean's Summer Research Program (DSRP) Virtual Poster Symposium

The Dean's Summer Research Program Virtual Poster Symposium is an opportunity for University of Pittsburgh medical students to showcase their work as it relates to the Social Determinants of Health.