Internal Medicine Residency Diversity Action Council
The mission of the IM Residency Diversity Action Council (DAC) is to encourage residents to challenge racism and health inequities in medicine through academic and interprofessional discussion and action, while also promoting a more diverse and inclusive medical community. One of the founding members and faculty advisors includes Dr. Sakeina Howard-Wilson, a former resident of the IM residency.
The council aims to achieve its mission through the following initiatives:
Education Lectures/Journal Clubs: Under the guidance of UMass faculty advisors and faculty volunteers, residents create presentations that critically analyze how racism in medicine and social justice issues affect vulnerable populations. IM Residents use the most up-to-date evidence on such topics to curate a presentation that further examines the impact of these issues on patient health outcomes. The DAC's first presentation in 2022, titled "COVID-19 and Health Care Disparities: A Closer Look," focused on critically evaluating the disproportionate mortality rates among racial/ethnic individuals compared to their counterparts while utilizing a health equity lens. As a result of their hard work and the impact of this presentation, the DAC members received the prestigious honor of being invited to present their work at Grand Rounds in 2022. DAC members presented additional work during Grand Rounds in October 2023. You may view their presentation here.
Community Engagement: The DAC strives to create a safe space for residents to learn and engage in discussions on real-world social justice issues that affect the UMass Chan Community. These discussions have the potential to generate promising solutions for enhancing the culture, health equity, and quality at UMass Chan, benefiting both residents and patients.
Leadership |
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Maria Garcia, MD, MPH
Faculty Advisor
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Rebecca Kasenge, DO, MPH
Faculty Advisor
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Sakeina Howard-Wilson, DO
Faculty Advisor
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Alessandro Colletta, MD
Resident Co-Chair
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Andrew Sheridan, MD
Resident Co-Chair
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Victor Acosta-Rivera, MD
Resident - Secretary
Members |
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Aditi Singh
Member, DAC journal club committee
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Brittany Tran, MD
Member, DAC recruitment committee
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Diana Liu, MD
Member, DAC recruitment committee
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Divya Sudireddy, MD
Member, DAC journal club committee
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Hau Nguyen, MD
Member, DAC recruitment committee
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Kanav Gupta, MD
Member, DAC journal club committee
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Nicolas Fandino-Rubio, MD
Member, DAC recruitment committee
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Shefali Gladson, MD
Member, DAC recruitment committee
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Tyler Ryan, MD
Member, DAC research committee