It’s Tough Out Here: Navigating These Academic Streets

Chair(s)

• 

  Joseph Wright, MD MPH (he/him/his)

  Professor (adjunct) of Pediatrics, Emergency Medicine and Health Policy
  George Washington University Schools of Medicine and Public Health
  Itasca, Illinois, United States

The academic medicine ecosystem poses unique challenges for underrepresented in medicine (URiM) faculty. While notable steps have been taken in the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd to promote diverse and inclusive environments, faculty around the country are now experiencing backlash and reactive headwinds related to the clawing back of equity-focused initiatives. Whether related to the imposition of untenable accountability metrics, unfunded mandates and/or under-resourced leadership roles, URiM faculty have historically borne a disproportionate “tax” burden associated with balancing moral injury and navigating the academic landscape. Further, lack of psychological safety in the face of microaggressions, macroaggressions, or outright racism can exacerbate the toxicity of the URiM faculty experience.

The impact of internalized differential lived personal and professional experiences of URiM faculty on physiologic and psychologic well-being has been under-reported, and, certainly, under-investigated. This session transparently addresses some of the systemic challenges faced specifically by URiM academic faculty, and initiates frank discourse to overtly characterize and categorize common transgressions and their potential consequences. This session also represents nascent steps being undertaken by the American Academy of Pediatrics to both support its members and explore constructive ways to clear the structural brush that may be impeding the progress of all physician scientists and health services researchers who are committing their scholarship to the advancement of health equity. The session faculty is composed of participants in the AAP’s inaugural “Navigating These Academic Streets Summit” notably all of whom also occupy leadership roles across the organizations that comprise the Pediatric Academic Societies.

Presentations:

• 4:00pm – 4:12pm HST

  Introduction: Challenges Facing Underrepresented in Medicine Faculty in the Academic Ecosystem
  

  Speaker: Joseph Wright, MD MPH (he/him/his) – George Washington University Schools of Medicine and Public Health
• 4:12pm – 4:24pm HST

  The Leaky Pathway for Underrepresented in Medicine Faculty: What Does the Data Show?
  

  Speaker: Colin J. Orr, MD, MPH (he/him/his) – Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt
• 4:24pm – 4:36pm HST

  Pet to Threat: Unique Mentorship and Sponsorship Dynamics Confronted by Academic Faculty
  

  Speaker: Tiffani J. Johnson, MD (she/her/hers) – UC Davis
• 4:36pm – 4:48pm HST

  Methylating DNA and Withering Telomeres: Impact of Physiologic Weathering on Underrepresented in Medicine Faculty
  

  Speaker: Kenya McNeal-Trice, MD (she/her/hers) – University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
• 4:48pm – 5:00pm HST

  Building an Enduring and Restorative Community for Underrepresented in Medicine Faculty: The Role of Organized Pediatrics
  

  Speaker: Joelle N. Simpson, MD, MPH (she/her/hers) – Children's National Health System
• 5:00pm – 5:30pm HST

  Q & A