Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine

First full day of orientation for OUWB’s matriculating class centers on diversity

OUWB M1s Nitin Venkatesh (left) and Elan Pszenica (right) participate in one of many of the group activities held during Monday's session on diversity and inclusion.
OUWB M1s Nitin Venkatesh (left) and Elan Pszenica (right) participate in one of many of the group activities held during Monday’s session on diversity and inclusion. (Photo by Andrew Dietderich)

For Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine’s Class of 2025, the first full day of orientation centered on the topics of diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Led by OUWB’s Diversity & Inclusion team, the theme was “Building Community: Understanding Your Role as an Advocate for Diversity.”

Four sessions were held with a wide range of diversity and inclusion topics covered including unconscious bias, institutional racism in health and medicine, levels of racism, enhancing community through LGBTQ+ inclusivity, health care disparities, and identifying inappropriate behavior in an academic environment.

Tiffany Williams, Ph.D., director, Diversity & Inclusion, said the discussions need to happen early in the matriculation process so students keep the topics top of mind.

“Diversity, equity, and inclusion is so important to our everyday lives,” she said.

“As we bring new students to our campus, we’re trying to build community, a sense of belonging.”

(Only partial stories are posted here with hopes to provide a brief overview and introduction to my most recent work. The full version of this story may be found on the OUWB website here.)

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