Chair's Message
October 2024 - EDI Update
Be Part of the Change: Join Us in Advancing Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI)
The Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine (PLM) is deeply committed to advancing Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI) across all facets of our work. Grounded in our Cultural North Star values of doing what’s right, making things better, and being kind, our JEDI Plan outlines a comprehensive approach to building an inclusive environment. We invite you to explore how you can get involved and make a meaningful impact!
Explore Our EDI Initiatives: We are excited to announce the launch of our new EDI webpage! Here everyone (faculty, staff, trainees, students) can dive into our existing initiatives/programs and learn about our upcoming projects (see also JEDI Plan in Action below).
Join us!: Here are some of the ways you can help our EDI efforts (information in the parentheses indicates which section of our JEDI report provides additional information)
- Contribute to expanding the recruitment pathways into Pathology with our community partners (“Community Engagement”)
- Assist in refining our recruitment, onboarding, and retention processes for staff and trainees to ensure we attract and retain diverse talent (“Structural Elements”)
- Help ensure our department has a welcoming, inclusive and supportive environment by offering your input and working on needed changes (“Climate”)
- Create EDI-focused educational opportunities and help improve our understanding of what EDI education our employees would like (“Professional Development/Education”)
- Collaborate to address disparities in patient care and work towards equitable healthcare for all (“Patient Care”)
- Help us understand how our workforce does or doesn’t reflect the demographics of our communities, and create strategies to improve diversity as needed (“People”)
Sign Up to be a part of our EDI journey!
Featured Initiatives: JEDI Plan in Action
We are thrilled to highlight two of our recent initiatives.
Partnership with Turner-UCLA Allied Healthcare Internship Program
This summer, PLM's EDI Committee proudly continued its partnership with the Turner-UCLA Allied Health Internship Program, offering a transformative experience for 65 students from under-resourced communities throughout Los Angeles. Over the past seven years, this collaboration has hosted 21 cohorts, reached 321 students and introduced them to potential allied healthcare careers in Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, including careers in healthcare administration.
Over the course of a week, the students had the unique opportunity to immerse themselves in various areas throughout the UCLA Health system. Our department was honored to host “Lab Day,” where we welcomed the students for five sessions, showcasing key areas of our work. Students participated in rotations and tours across several of our laboratories, including the Blood and Platelet Center, Clinical Laboratory, Cytology, Surgical Pathology, and Molecular Genetics. These experiences provided them with a comprehensive view of the critical roles our department plays in patient care and diagnostics, offering firsthand insights into careers they may not have otherwise considered. Additionally, we hosted a healthcare administration panel, where students engaged with professionals who shared their journeys and offered guidance on how to grow as an allied health professional while navigating the complexities of the healthcare field.
The impact of this partnership is best captured through the voices of volunteers themselves:
“Sharing my blood bank experience and knowledge to future health care professionals was rewarding, as it allowed me to inspire the next generation, while highlighting the critical role of transfusion medicine in patient care.” – Janet Baez, Senior CLS Specialist
"Cytology is the study of cells and has always been an extension of Pathology. However, it is a career little known to the general public.
This has been a great opportunity to introduce Cytology to the bright, young interns of the Turner-UCLA Allied Health Internship Program. Our staff presented an introduction lecture and hosted a multiheaded microscope session to show various kinds of cells and disease processes. The interns were highly enthusiastic and excited to learn about Cytology."
– Po Chu Fung, Senior Cytotechnologist and Education Coordinator
"Being able to volunteer to support the Turner-UCLA Allied Health Internship allowed me the opportunity to give back and connect with the community and demonstrate the possibilities of working in healthcare from a different perspective.
The most valuable aspect for me was getting to introduce the field of pathology! We are a bit of a small bubble of medicine, but important nonetheless so being able to show the students a different side of medicine that they may be interested in was very rewarding.
I think seeing some of the students faces when I showed them the variety of specimens! It ranged from awe to maybe a little grossed out.
It definitely impacted me personally considering I wish I was able to take part in an internship like this. Showing prospective students other fields of medicine allows them find areas that interest them and not just traditional routes that they may be familiar with.
It was a wonderful experience and I'm glad to have been a part of it, there is nothing I would change from my end." – Alexander Novak, Pathologists' Assistant (PA), Surgical Pathology.
Empowering Harmonious Futures with Dr. Melanie Ho and the Department of Pediatrics
As the inaugural recipients of the Cultural North Star in Action Grants, we had the privilege of hosting Dr. Melanie Ho, author of Beyond Leaning In, for a transformative three-part workshop series titled "Empowering Harmonious Futures: Navigating EDI in Leadership." This series brought together over 200 participants, who came together to grow, enhance their leadership skills, and advocate for EDI through three specially curated workshops.
To make this event possible, we collaborated with the Department of Pediatrics EDI Committee and Pediatric Women in Science and Doctors of Medicine (WiSDoM). The resources and support from these partnerships were instrumental in providing participants with valuable tools to engage in challenging EDI conversations, examine organizational culture, and navigate complex change.
For those who were unable to attend the workshops, recordings of the workshops are available on our EDI webpage.
For the next phase of our “Empowering Harmonious Futures” journey, we are excited to announce our upcoming book club, where we’ll dive deeper into Dr. Ho’s book, Beyond Leaning In, exploring actionable steps to navigate workplace challenges and redefine leadership through collaboration, allyship, and innovation.
Meet Our EDI Leaders
I am so grateful to our dedicated team of EDI Co-Chairs and Program Managers. They contribute diverse perspectives and expertise from across the department and they are passionate advocates for EDI efforts! Learn more about our EDI leaders and their contributions by visiting the EDI webpage.
We would like to extend our gratitude to Dr. David Lu, who, as an inaugural Faculty Co-Chair, spearheaded key initiatives and established a strong foundation that we will continue to build upon. Following a comprehensive search, we are pleased to announce Dr. Rebecca Sosa as the new Faculty Co-Chair, succeeding Dr. Lu.
Sarah M. Dry, MD
Chair, Department of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine