Diversity education in medical schools to be addressed at national conference

A national conference is to address issues relating to diversity in medical education.

Hosted by ‘Diversity in Medicine and Health’ (DIMAH) and involving medical schools across the United Kingdom, the conference will highlight the importance of diversity in medical undergraduate education on Friday 6 May at the Medical Schools Council, London.

The conference aims to address the way in which diversity education can be best delivered in medical schools in order to develop, promote and provide excellent medical practice for health care delivery to patients from diverse backgrounds. By accomplishing this, future doctors will be better equipped to improve patient experience and clinical care.

In 2010, a Higher Education Academy workshop, which led to the establishment of DIMAH, identified the slow development of diversity teaching in the United Kingdom. Issues of concern included a lack of clarity in defining ‘diversity education’, difficulty in engaging students in diversity education and a lack of faculty support for the staff asked to teach diversity. 

This is the first conference hosted by DIMAH and will be opened by the President of the General Medical Council Professor Terence Stephenson. The outcomes of the conference will be used to inform DIMAH’s goals over the next three to five years.

Nisha Dogra, Professor of Psychiatry Education, honorary consultant in child and adolescent psychiatry and affiliate of the Department of Neuroscience, Psychology and Behaviour has chaired DIMAH since its inception in 2011. 

The conference will take place on Friday 6 May at the Medical Schools Council, Woburn House, Tavistock Square, London.